Letter to a Nobel Laureate

Hi Abhijit! Hope you’re well at Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.

Establishing epistolary contact with Nobel Laureates is not among my hobbies. So, why do I write to you?

Once the ceasefire was announced, the shelling stopped, the war drums fell silent, and victory marches commenced; my BP returned to 120/80, the dull throbbing headache vanished, the pall of gloom lifted, writer’s-block unblocked – like an accidental release of water in Chenab, appetite resumed, and thoughts migrated miraculously from missiles to mundane masala matters triggered by a lunch hosted at home by spouse for her friends.

Celebrating India’s victory? I asked. No, just our monthly kitty-meet, she said. I chanced upon the menu list she had scribbled on a slip as an aid-memoire; 21 items, including cold drinks, starters, main course, and desserts!

With the heady mix of aromas wafting up from the kitchen on the ground-floor to my study on the first, as I waited to be invited to join the lunch, how could I think of anything but food, especially when deprived of the appetisers?

Just before lunch was served, I greeted the ladies and showed them your book - Cooking to Save Your Life.

What have you cooked today? They asked, remembering the yummy tamarind sweet-n-spicy pickle I had made on an earlier occasion for which I had followed Chandrakanti’s You Tube video in chaste Sambalpuri.

How could I when I was denied visa to enter the kitchen, as though I were an ISI agent? But I’ve already tried a recipe from this book – Moroccan Chilled Drink. Easy and quick to make. Slice cucumbers, put in a tumbler, pour chilled water. That’s it, Done! Ready to serve.

But what’s Moroccan about it?

I have no idea. Maybe, you can field that question.

I enjoyed reading your cookbooks, and particularly loved the interesting ideas, little stories, autobiographical morsels, and typical Bengali penchant for  boasting mildly seasoned with un-Bengali self-deprecating humour.

Lovely illustrations by Cheyenne Olivier, though my daughters draw better sketches, in my opinion.

Banquet of Chestnuts & ‘The Gift’

I also looked up your references. The risqué story about the Banquet of Chestnuts allegedly hosted by the degenerate, delinquent son of a Pope. Was your allusion stronger than a gentle dig at the vulgar display of wealth, the economic debauchery at the Big, Fat, Indian wedding at Mumbai in July 2024?

And the seminal essay ‘The Gift’ written in 1925 – where Marcel Mauss, the French sociologist, explores the role of gift exchange in archaic societies, and argues that gifts are not merely voluntary or altruistic but come with obligations—to give, receive, and reciprocate. The context, I think, was of several communities across the globe independently developing a tradition of sharing food to help those in want without humiliating them.

However, I found your recipes intimidating since I hadn’t even heard of several dishes and ingredients you mentioned, despite which I’ve recommended your books to many friends and contacts.

After reading Chhaunk, I shared a pic of the book cover with Mr. B.K. Saha, a senior colleague and asked, ‘Have you read this book?’

Diligent at work, and a demanding Boss, Mr. Saha is fond of long-leaf Darjeeling tea which he brews to perfection, buys fresh pabda from the fish-market after meticulous inspection - visual, tactile, and olfactory - and cooks a delicious fish curry. All Bengalis love fish, you know, but how many can cook as well as your truly, he had once boasted.

Pat came his response, ‘I don't know why a Bong should use ‘Chhaunk’ as the title of his book on cooking and not ‘Phoron’. I have seen a few of his recipes and felt they were rather complicated and oriented towards ingredients available in the US rather than the middle-class markets of Kolkata. The variety of ingredients both veggies and dry groceries available in India or Kolkata is mind boggling. In fact, I feel that in terms of fresh veggies we are great. Kolkata does lag in fresh fruits, though.’

Yes, I agreed, the recipes are distinctly American and global, with a peppering from his Bengali roots. I forgot to tell Mr. Saha that you’re a half-Bong since your mother is from Maharashtra.

Is this a collection of essays or a cookbook – 24 essays garnished with 69 recipes?

Best to quote you: ‘[It’s] more of a book to read rather than a cookbook. It is more about social science and ideas in general … each essay offers an angle on the food (or drinks) that inspired the choice of the recipes that follow the essay. We hope the reading will inspire you to cook, and the cooking to read further.”

I found your earlier book Cooking to Save Your Life leaning more on your love for food and hobby-cooking though the narrative is still peppered with fascinating ideas.

Both your books were most educative for me, instantly revealing my inadequate vocabulary and lack of initiation into the world of global fine dining. The ingredients were no less exotic and unfamiliar than the names of the dishes. I rushed to Merriam-Webster online dictionary for the meaning of arugula, kumquats, Mundu, Boriya, Khola, Poblano, Burrata, Robbiola, Brie, Camembert, Taleggio, prosciutto, anchovy, halibut, Zaalouk, Tagliata, ceviche, and other unfamiliar words.

A Recipe

A wannabe chef of international cuisine, I thought of cooking Fresh Pasta with Gorgonzola, for which you mandated the procurement of the following ingredients:

“500 GM FRESH TAGLIATELLE, or fettuccini

1 TBSP BUTTER

100 GM GORGONZOLA DOLCE

100 GM CRÈME FRAICHE, or sour cream

2 TBSP GRATED PARMESAN

4 TBSP WALNUT KERNELS, broken PEPPER (plus a pinch of piment d'Espelette, if you have some).”

I looked up the dictionary to decipher your cryptographic list, but gave up since I had only butter, walnut, and green Shimla Mirch. Anyway, I got to know that piment d'Espelette – known in English as Espelette Pepper, Espelette Chiles, or Basque Chiles - is a rare and expensive chile grown in the Basque region of southwest France.

Thanks for improving my knowledge about continental cuisine, agronomy, and geography, too.

Culinary Challenge

Here is my culinary quiz for you, go figure the dishes and ingredients listed below in Sambalpuri/Odia language which as a Bengali you should have no difficulty with:

Patar-purga thuro or jhain-jhuri, kardi, hendua, patalghanta-puda with noon-kancha mircha-ooel, sukha tengni or baenri, bael chhati, khada, kuler, sunsunia, guliaguli, aamil, letha, manda, kakra, aarisa, mahul khiri, madia tikhri.

Cooking utensils and implements: handi, patli, telen, chatu, aenka, dua.

Now I feel better, knowing that you are as much flummoxed as I was when I read your list of dishes, ingredients and utensils. We’re now even, no offence taken or given.

Btw, all the ingredients listed above are locally available, several of them foraged from the fields and forests. With experimentation over millennia, cultures and communities have invented nutritious and delicious dishes from locally available materials. Village economies, as you know, were self-sufficient before the rural market was grabbed by corporations marketing biscuits and namkeen in five-rupee sachets.

Lunch Menu

Should you visit Bhopal, be our guest to sample an authentic Odia meal cooked by spouse and self. Hopefully, in your next cookbook you may mention a few Odia and Sambalpuri recipes, too.

Just so you know, and are tempted to plan a visit to Bhopal soon, here is the menu that spouse made for her recent kitty lunch at our home, all the dishes except three* made by herself:

Cold drinks – 1. Aam pana, 2. Jeera-Pudina Chach, 3. Coconut water.

Appetizers/Starters (Hors d’oeuvres for you) – 4. Paneer fingers, 5. Lightly sautéed mushroom-capsicum-cheese in cute edible cups, 6. Minced cucumber, carrot, tomato seasoned with a dash of lemon, coriander leaves and finely-diced green chili, 7. Nacho with pudina chutney dip.

Main Course – 8. Palak puri, 9. Pepper chicken with gravy, 10. Moong Dal, 11. Jack-fruit curry, 12. Coconut kofta curry, 13. Rice, 14. Dahi Bada, 15. Thin slices of parwal (Tricosanthes dioica, also known as pointed gourd) dipped in rice batter and deep-fried, 16. Ditto for karela, 17. Masala bhindi

Desserts – 18. Sabudana (Tapioca pearls) kheer with diced mango, 19. Shrikhand, 20. Anjeer and date barfi

After-meals – 21. Paan freshly plucked from terrace garden with roasted saunf, laung, and elaichi. We had run out of misri nuggets, had to do with sugar in a little bowl.

An apt 21-Gun salute for the Maharanis of Bhopal, don’t you agree?

*Of the 21, three ammunitions were imported – the anjeer-date barfi from Gagar was a gift brought in by a guest; Amul shrikhand and coconut water bottle were bought from the market.

Don’t ask how long she toiled at the kitchen to cook for her friends, I’m not telling.

She used no fancy ingredients imported from distant lands, having purchased all vegetables from Bittan market (low carbon footprint!); cooked all the dishes without reference to any cookbook, and without measuring portions. Not everyday does she cook a lavish meal for twenty persons, yet all the dishes turned out perfect and were enjoyed by her guests who filled our home with banter, bonhomie, and laughter for hours. The way to  women’s hearts is also through the stomach!

 Odia Cook?

I was rather disappointed to find no mention of any Odia recipe in your books. Didn’t you have an Odia cook at your Calcutta home?

Let me share a little anecdote, possibly apocryphal, with you.

Many decades ago, a young man from Odisha, just out of Ravenshaw college with excellent academic credentials, was interviewed at Calcutta by Khushwant Singh for the post of sub-editor in a national English daily.

After a quick glance at his resume, Khushwant Singh asked with a mischievous grin the thin-like-a-reed boy, ‘Odias come to Calcutta to serve as cooks in Bengali homes. Why do you wish to wield the pen rather than the cooking ladle? Because the ladle is too heavy for you?’

Unruffled by the playful insult, the young man replied, ‘Sir, many Sardars are truck drivers, yet you aren’t.’

The interview ended. He got the job.

Leutia Saag Recipe

Since you’re partial to simple, quick-to-make dishes, here is my leutia saag recipe with minimal ingredients and cooking time of five minutes or less.

Ingredients: tender leutia (Amaranthus Green or Red) saag, a few pods of garlic, two dried red chilies, a pinch of mustard seeds, a spoonful of peanut oil.

Superb taste if the saag is from your terrace garden, organic and with zero chemical fertiliser or pesticide. If buying from the market, sniff lightly, if it smells fishy, don’t buy.

Procedure: Rinse the saag well, put in a colander (a new word I learned from your book) to drain the water, use a thick kadhai (you don’t want your saag to be burnt), pour the oil, when it steams put the mustard seeds which begin sputtering, put the garlic pieces (not minced fine, one pod sliced to two or three pieces), break each red chilli into two and add, reduce flame, don’t burn the mustard seeds, garlic, and chili; add the saag, and keep turning, put the flame at medium, add salt, cover the kadhai, the saag will release water which is enough to cook it. If needed, pour a few spoonsful of water.

Best to cook when the diners are already seated and the other dishes have been served. Serve hot for the wow factor.

I’m tempted to share recipe for basi pakhal and aamil, but must keep it for future when we meet. Once again, You’re invited for a meal at our home.

Where to find me? That’s easy, just ask for the brilliant blogger of Baghmugaliya, Bhopal.

Books Referred

By Abhijit Banerjee, Illustrated by Cheyenne Olivier:

·      Chhaunk: On Food, Economics and Society

·       Cooking to Save Your Life

***

Comments

Sangeeta Verma

Nice one! You took on the mighty Sardar!! 👏👏

Next one- a letter to Banu Mushtaq?

Blogger: Not me. An anecdote someone shared with me. Maybe fictional, but I like it.

Banu Mushtaq? If she captivates me!

Lalita Mathur

Hello Prasanna,

An absolutely delightful read ! 👌👌😁😁👌👌

Kudos to your choice of topic , and of course , your excellent writing skills ! 

I can well imagine the fun n laughter and bonhomie at your beautiful home for Sanjukta's kitty - such a lively bunch of supremely talented cooks and foodies !  😂😂👍

The" 21 Gun Salute" was truly befitting the Maharanis of Bhopal . 

I'm sure the host must've been exhausted by the end of it - don't we all know the solid hard work that goes into making every such get together such a grand success !!! 

Secondly, your mention of  Mr Saha and his culinary skills was also very nostalgic. They're very dear friends , though we've been out of touch for a long time. But we have very fond memories of some wonderful evenings spent at each others homes , when we enjoyed their warmth and  gracious hospitality. A lovely couple , indeed. 

Prasanna , I'm so, so impressed by your amazing critique of "Chhaunk". You've managed to put across everything without offending anyone , especially the Nobel Laureate!! Not an easy thing to do . I'm sure he'll happily accept your most cordial invitation at the earliest!!! 😁😁 Sanjukta , beware !  

Lastly, was the youngster from Ravenshaw College , who was interviewed by Kushwant Singh , this blogger , by any chance ????😂😜 I have a gut feeling it was .....

What a superb reply to his query 👌👌😂😂👌👌👏👏 Must've shocked him out of wits to be outwitted by a young boy , fresh out of college. 

Congratulations for this wonderful piece. I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. 👏👏👌👌🫡

Warm regards 🙏🙏

Anshu Vaish

Charming, Prasanna! Greatly enjoyed reading it 😊

Madan Mohan Upadhyay

छोंक नाम के पुस्तक के शीर्षक से मुझे उत्तर प्रदेश की एक खाने के संबंध में कहावत याद आ गई।

कहावत है 

""घी बनाए वैंगना, नाम बहू का होय""

बैगन की सब्जी अच्छी बनने का श्रेय बहू को न देते हुए घी को दिया जा रहा है जिसकी वजह से बैंगन की सब्जी अच्छी बनी है।

वास्तव में भोजन के तत्वों के साथ साथ उसे बनाने की जो विधि है जो तड़का है जो छोंक है, जो बूझने की कला है उन सबका बहुत बड़ा योगदान है।

खाने पर दो हिन्दुस्तान के सभी राज्यों में अलग अलग क्षेत्रों में बहुत सारी पुस्तकें लिखी हैं।

और प्रत्येक पुस्तक अपने आप में अनूठा खजाना है।

मुझे खाने पर कुछ और कहावतें याद आ रही हैं

"" खाओ मन भाया,

पहनो जग भाया""

""कम खाओ और 

गम खाओ""

""मुर्गी जान से गई ।

खाने वाले को स्वाद नहीं आया""

""सेर  चून ,

चौबारा रसोई""