‘Forgotten Foods’: Food, places, memories and enduring magic

Pushpesh Pant

THERE are all kinds of food books. Some are a collection of recipes, others are autobiographical and some claim to be rewriting the history of what we eat. Some enterprising authors trace the journey of a samosa or a jalebi, a kebab or a pulao to the subcontinent along the Silk Route or describe the export of Indian curries. Rarely does one come across a volume that blends all these ingredients beautifully to present a delicious dish, but this anthology is a rare exception.

Take, for example, the piece by Sikander Malik. Entitled ‘Lost Kitchen Cabinet of Bhopal’, it is evocative and provides glimpses of the evolution of not only Bhopal’s cuisine but its culture since the foundation of the princely state by Dost Mohammad. The writer pays glowing tribute to the begums of Bhopal, who ushered in a refreshing whiff of modernity at the turn of the century. Some of the most beautiful mosques in the city as well as the tradition of Gulabi and Hariyali Dastarkhwan are part of their legacy. This piece is admirably complemented by Tarana Husain Khan’s short essay, ‘Separated at Birth: Rampur and Bhopal Cuisine’. Tarana’s other piece, ‘The Quest for Tilak Chand’, in another section, reads like a delectable detective story.

The book is divided into four parts. The first deals with memories and moves randomly between places and periods. In a fascinating short essay, Claire Chambers retells her gastronomic adventures in Peshawar and Hyderabad and shares with the readers the exotic recipe for custard apple kheer. Rizvina Morseth de Alwis keeps the suspense up with ‘Sri Lankan Malay Cuisine Walks the Tight Rope’. Rana Safvi laments how traditional recipes are ‘Impoverished by Modernity’. There are two exquisite remembrances of the culinary history of families, one by Moneeza Hashmi, daughter of poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, and the other by Muneeza Shamsie, who invites the reader to follow in her footsteps across India-Pakistan and Britain.

The second part, ‘Identities in Flux’, has a grand sweep. What is listed here is only illustrative of the stimulating content — ‘Islam on the Table in Bengal’, ‘Ladakhi Muslims at Culinary Crossroads’, ‘Quasbati Cuisine and Urdu Cookbook’, ‘Food Scape of Manipur’s Pangal Community’ and ‘Hunza Diet and the Secret of Prolonged Youth’. And how can one miss ‘Food Myths and Unani Remedies’.

The third part is titled ‘Survival and Revival’ and is very informative, with essays titled ‘Authenticity of Kashmiri Food’, ‘Preserving Tradition of Love among Odia Muslims’ and ‘Kabul Nights in Berlin’.

The two pieces that don’t quite fit in with the tone and tenor of this elegant volume are ‘Sunday Lunch at the Mahindra Sanatkada’ and ‘Celebrating the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzib with Allahabad Sunchari’. Both seem like forced visuals in a sloppy documentary and unabashed plugs for specific events.

The fourth section has an interesting piece, ‘Bihari Kebab and Other Stories’, by Sadaf Hussain. This last section is called a ‘Dish in Time’. It offers assorted bits and pieces on the magic of ‘Hyderabadi Nihari’, ‘Kashmir Saag’, ‘Eggs in Mappila Cuisine’ and ‘Rampuri Adrak Halwa’.

We have saved for the end the heartbreaking piece by Siobhan Lambert-Hurley. It is titled ‘You Are What You Eat’. She begins dramatically with the tragic mob lynching of a Muslim boy returning home to celebrate Eid. This youngster was killed by vigilantes who suspected him of carrying beef because he was dressed ‘differently’. We learn in the next paragraph that the boy’s favourite dish was vegetarian biryani prepared from soya nuggets. This is the recipe shared in the memory of Junaid Khan.

The Preface, jointly written by the three editors, underlines the need for collaboration in the context of heritage food. The book delivers amply on this premise and promise. If there is one food book you are going to gift yourself or friends this festive season, look no further!