Vernika Awal
Deputy Editor
I met Chef Manish Mehrotra in early December at his acclaimed New Delhi restaurant, Indian Accent. While my team took some time to set-up the scene for the video interview that we were going to shoot with him, I couldn’t help but notice how immaculately the restaurant functioned. In the time that we spent chatting, tables were laid out with their typical upholstery, and placeholders and shiny cutlery were all put in place.
As you see this unfold around you, you realise how big a role consistency plays in the success of a venture — the simple act of showing up every day for years, and repeating the same actions each day, with the same amount of dedication you had on the first day.
During a recent speech that he gave upon receiving the award of India’s number one chef, Mehrotra mentioned that knowledge must be passed on to ensure that it is carried forward by the custodians of its art.
In the time we spent chatting, it is these two things that stayed with me. A mentor to most ‘progressive’ Indian chefs today, in our video of the week, Mehrotra talks about his journey, the meaning of modern Indian cuisine, and his approach towards cooking. Watch it, for it leaves us all not just with a journey of food, but with lessons for life.
Taking a sharp departure from this thought, have you ever wondered how curry came to be the national dish of Japan? Think of katsu curry, kare raisu, curry ramen and more, and you’ll notice how the dish takes from the Indian curries. It is believed that the curry travelled to Japan as long as 150 years ago. “It goes back to the year 1871, when a Japanese boy on a ship going to the US tasted curry onboard. He was the first Japanese to have tried curry, though it was the westernised version recreated by the British”, shares Harry Kosato, who was very recently recognised as the Japanese Cuisine Goodwill Ambassador for India by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. Read our conversation with Kosato to understand Japan’s love for curries, and how Indians today are taking to the Japanese cuisine.
Meanwhile, if you are planning a trip to Dubai in the coming months, we’d advise you to choose April — for this marks the start of the Dubai Food Festival. We’ve got the choicest selection of restaurants that will be at the event, and our shortlist should help you plan a food tour out in Dubai!
Before all of that, and much closer to home, Friday happens to be Lohri — a festival that denotes the passing of the winter solstice, and is widely celebrated in the state of Punjab and majority of the Northern Indian belt. If you’re looking for something special, we have a recipe of til gud ke laddoo in store for you too!
Happy festivities!