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Journalism of Courage
It’s been a lull year when it comes to food. No food trend caught on, unlike in previous years. During the COVID-19-induced lockdown, many started making sourdough at home. That died down soon since the baked bread was so hard it could have doubled as a murder weapon. Death by food, they say. There was also the Dalgona coffee trend, a whipped-up coffee with frothy milk akin to what is prepared in Indian homes when there’s an enthusiastic person in the kitchen or served at weddings in Delhi winters. Indians never branded it, so Dalgona it is.
But there are some trends that did catch my eye and, sometimes, my tastebuds. This is my roll call of all that was hot and what was not in my sphere of cuisine and gastronomy.
I’ve never been a big fan of fast-food QSRs (quick service restaurants), save for South Indian staples like idlis, dosas, and vadas—arguably the most satisfying QSR fare in India. Burgers from global chains like McDonald’s and Burger King somehow taste different here compared to their US or UK counterparts. But nothing tests your palate (or patience) quite like QSR pizzas. To tip you over the edge, a well-known pizza brand introduced the Momo Mia Pizza. It’s “a crispy pan pizza base topped with a colourful medley of capsicum, onion, and sweet corn, surrounded by a flavourful vegetable momo”. Why? Because there’s clearly no accounting for taste. Also, since we are on the topic of pizzas, fusion food is great as is using local flavours and ingredients as a form of sustainability, but no one needs to eat a Tandoori Ratatouille Pizza or a Makhani Margherita Pizza. I promise you.
Another horror is high-end fine dining restaurants serving food in aluminum crockery – what I call the “Tihar Prison oeuvre.” Now, I get that this keeps costs down for the restaurants, and there will never be any broken glasses or plates – but if I’m paying big bucks for a Big Apple Breakfast with blueberry pancakes and hash browns and handcrafted sausages and eggs to order, I’d prefer it not to be served in a stainless steel donga, with my freshly squeezed watermelon juice in an aluminum lota. Or my cocktail in a mini plastic bathtub! Please, just stop it.
A new big bugbear for me is the 10-minute food delivery being promised by various food-delivery platforms. It is impossible to make biryani in 10 mins, let alone deliver it. We wonder why India has such a high obesity percentage and incidence of fatty liver and heart problems – and then opt to order a reheated frozen meal which a desperate-to-not-lose-his-job food delivery driver will speed to get to your doorstep. The utter lack of attention or interest in either the customer’s health or in the safety of delivery agents is a deadly cocktail that we can do well without.
But enough griping; here’s to what was hot in 2024. In the last decade, I’ve noticed a rise in the number of regional cuisine restaurants – local and international – in metropolitan cities, and how popular they are. This year alone, I have heard of stand-alone restaurants serving Oriya, Khasi, Pathare Prabhu, Bohri, Sicilian, and Peruvian cuisines in metropolitan cities, introducing unique flavours to a wider audience. These range from tiny joints to upscale venues, all united by their dedication to authentic, quality ingredients. This trend reminded me of a visit to The Rice Boat, a tiny Kerala cuisine restaurant in Cambridge 15 years ago. Despite my aversion to eating Indian food abroad, I was blown away by the authenticity of the flavors – spicy, bold, and true to form – and the fact that almost all the clientele were non-Indians.
The success of high-end fine-dining Indian restaurants in London and New York, led by Indian chefs, is a notable development of 2024. Whether it’s Asma Khan with Darjeeling Express, that serves Mughlai dishes from her family, or Vikas Khanna’s Bungalow serving Indian food from each of our 28 states – and recently won the Michelin 2024 Bib Gourmand Award – it’s lovely to see Indian chefs taking Indian cuisine with all its variety and flavours (not limited to chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, dal makhni and vindaloo) to an international audience.
This focus and spurt of restaurants, pop-up kitchens, and curated menus dedicated to very specific cuisines is what stands out for me in 2024. Of course, there are the hits and misses sometimes the food is passed off as Bengali has never been seen by any Bengali before, but the hits are more than the misses. So, if you can dodge the food delivery agent who is zipping through traffic while carrying your Momo-Pizza, and instead make your way to one of these restaurants or pop-ups to try some regional cuisine, you’d never have been able to sample sitting miles away from that state or country; I think 2024 might just be worth it culinarily. Here’s to 2025 and making fish orly an international sensation.
Next week, I’ll be writing about butter chicken – white, red, and hopefully not blue.
