By A. G. Noorani
The book on food does a service to an overlooked part of Indian life.
THIS book fills a gaping void in the literature on India’s food and its food culture and does so most admirably. It has excellent colour photographs reproduced with the high standards that Roli Books maintains. There are some 46 recipes, besides. The text does not suffer by comparison. For, its writing, evidently, has been a labour of love to the author.
Born in Tel Aviv in 1965 to parents who escaped the Holocaust, Sephi Bergerson grew up in Israel and served in the army before moving to New York to become a photographer. He returned to Israel in 1989 and opened his own studio in Tel Aviv, rising to become president of the Professional Photographers’ Association. In 2002, he moved to India to pursue the career of a documentary photographer. He lives in New Delhi with his family.
Street food is even more neglected than the humble restaurant which many food columnists ignore. It is disgusting to find write-ups of the latest concoction by the chef of a five-star hotel. It provides a soft story. Hard work is not required. To whom do they cater?
Digging out the restaurant of old, which has served exquisite food for decades, requires probing inquiries, footwork and good taste. This is not inverted snobbery. Ask M.F. Husain and he will tell you the best such joints in Mumbai alone. On the walls of one he has written out his autograph. It is the only survivor of U.P. restaurants which serves authentic nihari – Noor Mohammadi. Not far, at Pydhoni, is a restaurant right outside a mosque whose mincemeat curry its patrons have enjoyed for decades. The quality has remained constant.
Street food is of a different genre, as its very name suggests. But then it need not be off a cart or on the pavement. The cook who is allowed use of a bench or a plank outside a shop gives the same kind of food.
Delhi – not New Delhi – is a heaven for lovers of street food. One of the most distinguished of them was President Zakir Husain. Air travel was rare then. He travelled often by train and particularly relished snacks served on railway platforms.
The author has written an intelligent introduction to the book. It stands out because it has none of the pretences and silly jargon of the arriviste columnist who holds forth on food week after week.