Monday, December 17, 2012



A tourist on India tour must attach as much importance to Indian cuisine as one does to dance, music, science, technology, history, monuments etc. Each preparation is a product of complex interaction between large number of variables, e.g. temperature, spices, things cooked, be they varieties of meat, poultry, fish, seafood, vegetables, etc. There is also the human hand which cooks, the nose that smells, the eye which sees and the palate which tastes.

Ultimately a dish emerges with a distinct name and flavor. A vast amount of time goes into preparing such a dish which we tend to consume in less than an hour. If we take a time frame of 50,000 years, then we must remember that Homo-sapiens have spent almost 40,000 years in caves and sustained themselves by gathering uncooked roots and fruits and, later, by hunting animals for their physical survival. The cuisines of India are part of Indian civilization and forms of creative expression.   

1 comment: