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Journalism of Courage
Ever wondered what the ancient royals feasted on? Jacob Sahaya Kumar, the 31-year old chef-turned-lecturer of a catering institute in rural Thittuparai in Erode district has culled out 200 priceless royal recipes after three years of intense research, digging deep into ancient Sangam period literature and buried memories of descendants of royal cooks.
It8217;s like reading history and eating a piece of it. Jacob had foraged the royal kitchens of the Chera, Chola and Pandya kings, through passages in literary works like Bhojana Kudhoogalam Ecstasy of Food, Baga Saastram Art of Cooking, Tamizhar Uravu Tamil Kinship, and Marattiar Seppedugal Maratta Copper Plate Inscriptions, found in the renownedSaraswathi Mahal library.
There are several snippets, discovered by Jacob and his team on their 8216;royal8217; kitchen tour. The cooks in the Chera Kingdom, first introduced Pongal, the use of unpeeled potatoes, and the use of coconut shells for softening meat and not marinating meat. The Cholas greeted visitors of other kingdoms with a special lunch called ThoothuvarSappadu, a heavy meal with rice and curries made of hunted meat. The Pandyas were the first to discover the art of preserving and marinating hunted meat and drying it in the sun. It was then deep fried and used in curries. There were special cooks for the kings and the queens. While the queens got a low-calorie diet, the menu for the soldiers included high-fat non-vegetarian food. The kings were given fatty food with rich garnishes.
Jacob reconfirmed the recipes with a descendant of a cook of the Thanjavur Palace. He will hold a royal food festival, first for the people who helped him and then for the public in a star hotel in Chennai on September 29. Depending on the response to the dishes, he will sell the recipes to Star hotels across the country.
