Gastronomical diversity makes us unique

An Exclusive Interview with Mr. Anurag Katriar on Cultural Impact on the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Industry

Hospitality Lexis / Print Edition November 2019

Mr. Anurag said: ‘Touch of Indianness which shall last forever’ Indian chefs over the best part of the last two decades have largely drawn culinary inspiration from the West. This saw mushrooming of several delis and cafes around the country serving pizzas, pasta, burgers and more. The epicentre of inspiration then moved towards East and far east with Asian influences taking center stage. Sushis, Sashimis, Dim sums, and Khowsuey found their way into the Indian palates. These steps were largely aimed at satiating the desires of a new breed called "well-travelled Indians" and it worked beautifully. However, with the growth of inbound tourism to India, Indian restaurateurs started seeing the potential of leveraging the Indian food for this new global audience. Indian chefs, now laced with global sensibilities of plating and pairing, started to look inwards for inspiration, traditional started to become fashionable and the trend continues unabated as on date! It is important to understand here that India is not one nation from a gastronomical perspective but it is an amalgamation of dozens of culinary nations! 

There is no dish in India that can claim complete acceptance across the entire nation. Dosa is perhaps the closest dish to have gained national acceptance otherwise even a ubiquitous Chaat is made differently in every city and state! We are a large diverse nation with a humongous opportunity to create new experiences even for the native mass. Imagine a classic Ghee Roast from Mangalore being served in Indore or a Puneri Misal being made available in Jaipur! Both these dishes are classic, traditional and Indian but yet alien to big parts of India. This uniqueness and diversity of Indian food give the Indian food entrepreneurs access to an unimaginably large domestic market, which is further augmented by the robust inflow of foreign traffic into India. Once this happens, the global image of Indian food will be much beyond a Chicken Tikka masala, Dal Makhni or a Biryani. 

“This diversity creates the biggest opportunity for an Indian F&B entrepreneur”

However, chefs need to be careful about not losing the primary essence and taste of a local dish in pursuit of "sexing" it up. "Style over substance" will never work. It will always have a limited shelf life. The idea should be to present local dishes truthfully albeit with contemporary styling and therefore it is important for the creative geniuses called chefs to understand the dish well before commercializing it. 

The emergence of home chefs has added a completely new dimension to this trend. Here is a breed that thrives on raw passion for food, has learned their native dish in it's most real and true form and they also know how to indulge in razor-sharp target marketing. These guys are pure gold for passionate restaurateurs. In my opinion, they may emerge as the biggest catalysts in getting local native food and flavours to the mainstream! It's up to the restaurateurs to grab the opportunity and make use of their knowledge and skill! 

The next decade will surely see Indian chefs and restaurateurs looking inwards and drawing inspiration from regional food of various hues across this gastronomically diverse nation called India.

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