How do you document the food of your culture when words for it don't exist in the published world? How do you tell your children that the food their ancestors ate is no longer found in their own kitchens? How does one person’s waste become another person’s delicacy?
We sat down with Shahu Patole, author of Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada, chef Gautam Krishnankutty and auhor Bijal Vachharajani under the canopied terrace of Lightroom Bookstore, Bengaluru, to unpack questions on food, memory, taste and identity.
Our Bangalore community turned out in strength to hear Shahu speak about writing the book, finding a translator who could do justice to his recipes, and the urgency of documenting cuisines before they disappear. Chef Gautam expanded the conversation, tracing how ingredient availability shapes entire food cultures, how ecosystems are sustained by farmers, butchers, and service providers, and how state politics inevitably filter into what we eat. The evening was held together seamlessly by Bijal, who guided the conversation with ease and insight.
In keeping with the theme of the evening, we closed with a tasting drawn from the book – beef curry, paya, harbharyachi bhaji (chickpea leaf curry), spring onion and toor dal sabzi, thecha, jowar bhakri, chunchune (crispy beef fat), and kharda – offering the audience a chance to experience a cuisine that is deeply native to India, yet rarely encountered by many.
