Food As Culture

picture credit: Candida Remedios

Darya cha Raja! The King of the sea! Ofcourse the Koli. That's my community, that does fishing. I represented  our food at this conference on Food As Culture. Its the first time ever such a concept is being presented on the academic platform. A brainchild of  Kurush Dalal, son of the legendary Katy Dalal, archaeologist and Parsi caterer, both of which Kurush has inherited in his genes. So you understand his restless at not having a full course at the Mumbai University in this subject.

A phone call from him and I had to agree, in solidarity to his cause. Also how can I refuse a Parsi, I am married to one after all plus our Koli - Parsi association dates back to the early days when Mumbai was built as a city. We the native and they the immigrants that did a lot of good and the way blending into Indian-ness over the 1200 years. He explained to me we were going to discover just that in this conference through what they term as Archaeology, Sociology, History and Ethnography of Food in India.Wow!

So there I was over the weekend of 5th and 6th May at the Kalina Campus of Mumbai University my Alma mater. It looked denser green than I remember from 24yrs ago. The conference hall was quite good with push back chairs and A/c. The conditioning after student life demands a few comforts in this terribly hot and humid summer of Mumbai.

Mugdha Karnik, Director at India Study Centre (Instucen) and Centre for Extra Mural Studies opened the conference elaborating the need for such an event. She pointed out how our eating habits have been shaped by nature and by politics historically and as on today. That set the tone.

Ayurved and Food, the first lecture by Dr. Shailesh Nadkarni, he stressed on eating a meal with several components to give different tastes and get varied nutrients from them. He said Ayurved gives lot of importance to a clean bowels and excreta. Well that is why I never feel bad when some one says, "You know your shit well". We all ought too, it tells you a lot about your health. If you ate fibrous foods like leafy greens they would leave you feeling light. Sticky foods would put a toll on the system, so no curds after 7pm. Desserts after a meal is the colonial influence, not good for health. If the have to be eaten, then eat them as a separate small meal is his recommendation. I have come back to implement some of his teachings, I hope to sustain.

The only PhD in Food History in Mumbai University, that's the recognition that Mohsina Mukadam gets. In this conference she elaborated on the point that politics affects food and enumerated example of World war, Government policies. How food has evolved from being the basic need to cultural significance. She shared some interesting menu boards to the effect. In her second lecture on the tKokani Muslim food she enthralled the audience without a slide deck, sharing her heritage. She talked about food and associated beliefs, like how a mother always sent her daughter with Karanji moulded by hand so that her daughter would return soon again signified by the twisted frill. It was hilarious at the same time to know that a steamed Karanji was made for "Mudya chi Id" or Id for remembrance. Another anecdote that an overstaying Son in law was signaled to leave by serving "Parat ni che ghavavane". There was an uproar of laughter when she taunted at a previous speaker who mentioned that their masala was made with 24-30 ingredients, saying Kokani masala was very simple with very few ingredients still made their curies flavorful and tasty.

Its her dream to see a museum of food related artifacts, utensils and history where food was cooked and served as per timelines in history. Hope we see that happen. She pointed out that we lack a lot in our archival systems and that has to change to make her dream possible.

Next Kurush Dalal took stage and he was in his element. Going back into analysising remnants of history that archaeologists discovered and that decipher information about what people ate and how they lived in the past. He pointed out that in the Indian heat everything decomposes completely so for an archaeogist what is priceless is charred grains and skeletal remains. He talked about how dental structures found in some human remains narates stories of what they ate. How meat tearing affected front teeth and kept them in good condition while grain eating which meant sugar decayed the teeth. How the reconstruction of skeletons proved which bones were developed well and which were not. How squatting was common and the differences in the cranium of a hunter and a gatherer. Such a fun session.

Saee Khandekar talked about grains. She spanned the history of grains, how we ate more millets that were hardy and later the revolution of wheat. It was interesting to know that Barley exsisted in the times of Rug veda and it extolled its goodness for igniting the appetite. Talking about her favorite subject of leavened breads she didn't forget to tell us about the commercial breads that are ridden with unnecessary additives and preservatives making them unworthy of consumption.

Rushina M G mesmerized us with a subject that we love to shun as ordinary and yet no Indian can live without for long, the Dal. But actually I personally don't think of pulses as dals but she did say Lentils so that it is, agree. Lentils whoever thinks is ordinary should listen to this lecture and see what various communities do with these. In all its color, size and shape. The reference of Panchamel dal fed by Jodha rani to Shah Jahan added a starry quotient to the history. Based on it I declare that all modern day mothers whether they teach their sons household duties and cooking or not they must feed Panchamel dal to their sons. Who knows they might not build Taj Mahal for the wife but might love her well and appreciate everything that she does for her.

She later also talked about the Garhwali cuisine which she is married into. The dominance of lentils in their cooking and how varied ways of cooking has inspired her to study dals.

Dietary fats, a much debated topic in modern day. This was the subject of Sid Khullar's presentation. He talked about how in our culture showing love is related to a dollop of ghee served. Some of the images her shared I am sure churned the stomach of people who don't get a peek into kitchen where 'tasty' food is made swimming in butter. The alarming high quantities of Palm oil that is used commercially shook me. I love farsan and my fried munchies, need to correct that. Make your own or get made from controlled sources where better oils are used. He did reco using variety of oils depending on the use. Something I follow myself.

The star of ArchaeoBroma was Raamesh Gowri Raghavan!