Katori versus banana leaf: The geography of cuisine

Is South Indian food more messy than North Indian food or is it more sensual? Is it because we eat on a banana leaf which is to food what the napkin/plate/tablecloth combo is for other foods? Is it because North India brings out its katori army, arranged like chess pieces, with one bowl for each dish? Is it because our gravies — think sambar, olan and stew — are more runny than their rajma or rogan josh? How does India eat and why does it eat this way? Is it because restaurants have changed how we eat or is it intrinsic to the food?

- Shoba Narayan

Chef Sara Jacob links it to the North Indian "katori system" versus the South Indian eating on a banana leaf. Sara is in Bengaluru to do a pop up called Nair on Fire at Lush restaurant in Renaissance Bengaluru Race Course hotel. She specialises in Kerala cuisine that she markets through Instagram with celebrity endorsement and restaurant pop-ups across the country. Sara tells me how the pop-ups she does in Delhi are different from the ones she does in Bengaluru. In Delhi, she says, she arranges her dishes in neat layers, allowing for people to use a fork and spoon. In Bengaluru, she doesn't have to do any of this, serving her eriseri, puliseri, olan and stews in mud pots. The dozen-odd people at my table all mix the dishes by hand without any self-consciousness and are clearly enjoying themselves, which is why I asked the original question: is South Indian food more messy than North Indian food?