How I Cooked My Way Through Grief
In the wake of the sudden loss of her father, Mandakini Menon found a grounding force in the act of cooking,and the tactility of working with food.
Posts by tag
food memories
55 posts
Work Begins at 3 am in Kasimedu’s Fish Market
At the Kasimedu fish market in Chennai, fisherfolk are seeing a decline in their catch. Throvnica Chandrasekar captures the sights and smells of the market, and examines the reasons for the dwindling fish along the coast.
Vishalakshi Padmanabhan is Devoted to Preserving Heirloom Rice Varieties
In this chapter of 'Why Cook’, Archana Pidathala tells us about Vishalakshi Padmanabhan, founder of Buffalo Back Collective in Bangalore. Vishala’s guiding principle for the organic store is rooted in the food ethic she grew up with: to waste nothing, and cherish everything.
Mourola Maach er Tok Jhal
Dolon Dutta Chowdhury shares her mother’s version of Mourola Maach er Tok Jhal, her take on the traditional Bengali Tok – a light sweet-and-sour dish served towards the end of a Bengali meal.
Recipes of Revolt and Resistance: Artist Rajyashri Goody Challenges Deep-Rooted Casteism
Through her practice, artist Rajyashri Goody probes the perversions of caste in India, and how food forms a locus where the interplay of power and powerlessness is unfortunately most evident.
What Does it Take to Chronicle Culinary Memory?
Author and cultural historian Dr. Tarana Husain Khan talks to The Locavore about tasting egg flip as a child, the tricky business of recording oral history, and growing up in a family of armchair cooks.
‘Being a father transformed my relationship to food and cooking’
Moving across continents makes everyday practices such as cooking and feeding much more self-conscious, Krishnendu Ray tells us. A renowned food studies scholar, Ray talks to us about his changed perception of cooking, parenting, and his Didu’s jaggery-sweetened moorki.
‘Keerai pori is something I enjoy during the monsoon’
What does it mean to be in tune with changing seasons? Janagiamma, a leader of the indigeneous Kurumba community in the Nilgiris, tells us that millets and bamboo are good for the monsoons.
‘My Basic Tendency is to Experiment’
Professor and chef Kiranmayi Bhushi spoke to us about cooking for artists in Chicago, her grandfather’s farm in coastal Andhra Pradesh, and Lakshmi Charu,a traditional dish that’s making a comeback.
Yarkhandi Pulao
Ladakhi cuisine is a lot more than just momos and thukpas. Kunzes Angmo’s recipe for Yarkhandi Pulao reflects the region’s links and influences from other cultures and lands.