MEET THE CULINARY CUSTODIANS

WITH INDIAN CUISINE IN FOCUS BOTH GLOBALLY AND LOCALLY, THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO CHRONICLE INDIAN CULINARY CULTURE IN ALL ITS DIVERSITY. RUSHINA MUNSHAW GHILDIYAL SHOWCASES 17 WOMEN WHO ARE EACH COMMITTED TO KEEPING THEIR OWN CULINARY HERITAGE ALIVE

- RUSHINA MUNSHAW GHILDIYAL

Food has a unique and powerful ability to transcend the plate it sits upon, into varied dialogues and media. Today, there is a lot happening in the space of documenting India’s culinary heritage in unprecedented ways. With the recognition of the rich diversity India offers, and interest and engagement in regional cuisines at an all-time high, the stage is set for deeper discourse around local, sustainable and ingredient-forward eating, terroir, provenance, climate-driven consumption and all aspects of Indian cuisine. India’s many cuisines, with their sheer diversity, history, plurality and continuity, are a large aspect of that proposition. And leading the charge is a whole generation of women bringing authentic Indian cuisine into the spotlight. No surprises there; women have always been the best propagators of traditional cuisines. It’s in their DNA. A prodigious amount of culinary wisdom lies in the home kitchens of India with the unrecognised but true subject matter experts – women. Not only are they bastions of home cooking, but also repositories of generations of undocumented food knowledge that has been passed down the ages through oral history, mythology, folksongs and folklore, handwritten recipes, community cookbooks, and more. These are some of India’s most passionate culinary custodians, who are driving conversations around and exploration of regional, micro regional and community cuisines through media, books, TV, home delivery menus from their own home kitchens, and pop-ups at restaurants.

ALKA JENA

ODIA FOOD