Indian food: Then and Now

When author Colleen Taylor Sen sat to write Feasts and Fasts A History of Food In India which released in May she had 30 years worth of research data ldquoI have been collecting more information for lsquoif and when there is ever a reprintrsquo Therersquos so much to addrdquoldquoThe Vedas contain a lot of information about what ancient Indians ate There is no documentation of the Indus Valley civilisation though there is presence of archaeological materialrdquo says Sen who referred to an online translation of the Vedas and even consulted Sanskrit specialist Professor David Gitomer for the bookColleen Taylor SenThis is the 72yearoldrsquos sixth book but the one on her bucket list is an encyclopedia of Indian food with Indian journalist Sourish Bhattarchya ldquoAnd when I finish that book it may be my last Itrsquos such an ambitious projectrdquo she says over a phone conversation from ChicagoSen first got introduced to the concept of food history when out of sheer curiosity she began attending the Oxford Food Symposium in 1998 At the time Sen was already an established food writer ldquoTill then I had only written for newspapers and magazines but nothing concrete on food history I went on to write a research paper at Oxford on the Portuguese influence on Bengali cuisinerdquo says SenIn the early 1970s when she moved to Chicago along with husband Ashish Sen a professor and transportation statistician their home was three blocks away from the cityrsquos main Indian shopping centre on Devon Avenue where she was introduced to Gujarati and Hyderabadi cusineOne of the main ingredients in Indian cuisine ghee says Sen finds mention in the Rig Veda 1200 1100 BCE According to the book Agni the god of fire was considered the mouth through which the gods ate the sacrifices he was both priest of the gods and gods of priests One of his favourite foods was ghee clarified butter a divine substance exalted in many of the hymns of the Rig Veda ldquoDairy was an integral part of the Indian diet unlike China Today though ghee is not consumed as much with preference for lighter mealsrdquo she explainsThe book traces Indiarsquos food history from the time when food revolved around religion class and medicinal practices to external influences including the Delhi Sultanate and the Moghuls that added kingly richness and many meat dishes It touches upon the legacy of the Portuguese who introduced Indians to cheese called Bandel which is a smoky cowrsquos milk cheese still sold in Kolkatarsquos New Market The Portuguese also introduced potato okra papaya pineapple cashew and tobacco to us The British left us the AngloIndian cuisines that trickled down from the sahibs and to presentday Indian diaspora But assimilation has never been a problem for Indian society Indian food according to Sen has shown continuity over the ages ldquoIndia valued its indigenous crops such as millets and other grains But history is proof that it is open to the outside world absorbing techniques and exporting its food to other countriesrdquo says SenldquoDuring my recent visit to India I was amazed how restaurants in the capital today serve Assamese Naga and other regional cuisines It is an authentic food revolutionrdquoOne interesting project she worked on in 2010 was a 22page guide on what to order at an Indian restaurant ldquoI did this at a restaurant ownerrsquos request Do you know what foreigners order at an Indian eatery Tandoori chicken butter chicken samosa and saag paneer I wanted to help them broaden their culinary horizonsrdquo