Author:
Publication: Navhind Times, Goa
Date: September 4, 2007
The celebrated culinary expert and master
chef, Mr Sanjeev Kapoor today said that no food is bad "unless there
is something which is impure in it", and blamed the consumers for having
reduced their activity level towards food.
Mr Kapoor, who made a presentation on the
theme 'United we eat', on the second day of the International Cuisine Conference
2007, at Hotel Fidalgo, also said that the function of food, in India is not
restricted to satisfying the palate but also accords a spiritual experience,
as "our thoughts are controlled by what we eat."
"In fact, kitchen is considered a sacred
place only next to a temple, so much so that we would not even have footwear
on while entering it," he said.
Another food expert, Dr Tarla Dalal and the
chairperson of Indology-Goa, Dr Anjali Rao were also present on the occasion.
Mr Kapoor also told this daily that an outlet
of his traditional food chain would be soon opened in Goa. "We are currently
discussing the plans with the Taj Group of Hotels," he added.
Speaking further, Mr Kapoor said that the
Indian society follows event-related menus ranging from those followed during
a birth in the family to those to be used during a death anniversary.
The celebrated culinary expert also lamented
that the food recipes in India were strictly treated as some genetrix garden
secrets handed down the generations of families, and inaccessible to non-members
of the families. "I, therefore thought that whenever these recipes would
come to me, I would disseminate them to others," he pointed out.
"Indians produce so little food and do
not share it with others; this syndrome in turn, affecting the marketing of
Indian food," Mr Kapoor observed, adding "We are fortunately coming
out of this situation and the accessibility for Indian food is growing."
Stating that the most obvious is least appreciated,
Mr Kapoor bemoaned about the skeptical nature of Indians about their food.
"For us, Gharki murgi daal barabar," he remarked.
Mr Kapoor, in his presentation pointed out
that India has centuries-old tradition of culinary art and in Benaras itself,
there exist many scripts about the same, while countless others disappeared
over the years.
"Our repertoire of food is so large that
we can have each dish only once in lifetime, if we try them all," he
informed, maintaining that they are not repetitive.
Citing an example, Mr Kapoor stated that the
steamed Indian dishes themselves give us wide range of food items. He further
opined that Indians are so much complacent in nature that they allow things
to go wrong, pointing out, "the coarse wheat flour which used to come
from the flour mill is today replaced by well-packed superfine atta, the mustard
oil is bleached and de-colourised to look good, while jaggery is cleaned with
the use of concentrated sulphuric acid."
Mr Kapoor also took a dig at the restaurants
and food outlets which, failing to do good business, starts renovating themselves
with the assistance of Vastu Shastra.
Replying to a question during the interactive
session, Mr Kapoor said that the Indian tradition of establishing physical
contact with the food is unique and creates a "bond of touch" between
the consumer and the food.
"It has many advantages," he observed,
questioning, "Have you seen a person eating steaming hot food with his
own hands, without the use of fork, spoon or chop sticks, burning his tongue?"
