4 replies to this topic

[anil]

Vir Sanghvi's essay

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Can you think of many vegetarian Hindus who will be able to complete their cuisine without chillies, tomatoes or potatoes? Yet, all of these vegetables were unknown in India. They were brought here by the Europeans who had themselves only recently encountered them in the Americas.

Consider the provenance of most Indian desserts which are made from cottage cheese. Hinduism has a traditional injunction against splitting milk which is why there is so little cheese in Indian cuisine. But, it was Portuguese Christians who taught Bengalis how to make cottage cheese, thus setting the stage for the dishes that would travel all over India, including rasgullas, rasmalai and even that Punjabi staple, muttar paneer. If that surprises you then think of the provenance of that most Punjabi of breads: makki di roti. It is not an ancient dish invented by the Aryans on their way to do battle with the Dravidians. Corn was unknown to India till the Europeans introduced it. So makki di roti is of relatively recent origin.

[anil]

Chicken Tikka Masala row has not subsided. Cynthia also has a blog on food.

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It's Scottish. No, it's Indian. It's British. It's specifically North Indian. It's… and so the claims of ownership fly to and fro across the continents and the isles. At the heart of this row is a dish called Chicken Tikka Masala.

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Scottish Members of Parliament had invoked the wrath of Delhi historians and chefs. These Scottish MPs tabled a motion to have the dish's origin be officially recognised as Scottish through a Protected Designation of Origin. Protected Designation of Origin is a framework defined in European law to protect the names of regional foods. The purpose of the legislation is to safeguard the reputation of regional foods and eliminate unfair competition and the misleading of consumers by non-genuine products. For example, Parmigiano Reggiano (cheese) of Parma in Italy is protected. Greek Feta Cheese is also under the Protected Designation of Origin. It is made with sheep's milk and varying amounts of goat's milk may be added. Feta cheese not labelled Greek may include cow's milk or be made exclusively from cow's milk.

Edited by anil, 23 August 2009 - 07:07 AM.

[Gautam]

Dear Anilbhai,

I wrote then and emphasize now, with repsect to Vir Sanghvi, and his bs of "Aryans on their way to battle Dravidians" this changeling child of modern Mumbai, quite possibly the blowback of some Potuguese buccaneer himself for all his un-Indian, unseemly and utterly mindless attributes has his head stuffed full of the precious gift of the cow, go-vara. A brief examination of the Indo-European etymology of chhAna, sazchanaka et.al. will clarify may points and refute Sanghvi. Tracing the types of foods from Georgia and Ukraine, along with "Baltic consonants" would have clarified to this ignoramus and cultural imperialist that it did not require the Portuguese to teach the Bangalis how to curdle milk, just as there is a myth that the invading Turks taught us how to make yoghurt, pilaf and samosas [sambusak]. Indians are so, so, so stupid that they cannot figure out these things by themselves, and need interlocutors, especially deracinated elements like Sanghvi to explain to them how they came to evolve their own cuisine.

[anil]

Gautam, on 24 August 2009 - 01:37 AM, said:

Dear Anilbhai,

I wrote then and emphasize now, with repsect to Vir Sanghvi, and his bs of "Aryans on their way to battle Dravidians" this changeling child of modern Mumbai, quite possibly the blowback of some Potuguese buccaneer himself for all his un-Indian, unseemly and utterly mindless attributes has his head stuffed full of the precious gift of the cow, go-vara. A brief examination of the Indo-European etymology of chhAna, sazchanaka et.al. will clarify may points and refute Sanghvi. Tracing the types of foods from Georgia and Ukraine, along with "Baltic consonants" would have clarified to this ignoramus and cultural imperialist that it did not require the Portuguese to teach the Bangalis how to curdle milk, just as there is a myth that the invading Turks taught us how to make yoghurt, pilaf and samosas [sambusak]. Indians are so, so, so stupid that they cannot figure out these things by themselves, and need interlocutors, especially deracinated elements like Sanghvi to explain to them how they came to evolve their own cuisine.

GautamDa, I was pointing to the latest article about Tikka Masala and Scotland's attempt to PDO

[anil]

I know of simon from the early days of chowhound. Simon finally quit his job and wrote a book EAT MY GLOBE and started blogging DOS HERMANOS: GO EVERYWHERE, EAT EVERYTHING

The book is humorous and thoroughly enjoyable.