One: Indulge — Visit one of the world’s top five restaurants, make a reservation well in advance, and treat yourself to some of the greatest food experiences. Great books, films and art lasts; great dining experiences, like great stage performances, are ephemeral. Spain has El Bulli, El Celler de Can Roca and Arzak; the UK has Fat Duck; France has Bras and Pierre Gagnaire, and the US has the French Laundry, Per Se and Alinea. There isn’t, yet, an Indian restaurant in any of the reliable lists of the world’s top 10 places to eat, but perhaps that will change.
Two: Explore — Make a commitment to yourself on your next business trip; schedule an extra day and explore the country’s food. The best way to start is with the early morning vegetable, meat and spice markets — this is a treat anywhere in India, France, Italy and in farmers’ markets in the US and UK; move on to safe street food (tapas in Spain, crullers in New Orleans, farsans in Gujarat); ask the locals where to have a big blow-out dinner. Or set aside a day every month to explore restaurants and markets in a different part of your city. It’ll change the way you see the places where you live and work.
Three: Challenge — If you’re seriously interested in food, consider signing up for a short-term culinary course. Some five-stars in India hold master chef classes. Take gastronomical tours — many places in Kerala, Coorg and other parts of South India now offer spice plantation tours, Glenburne in Darjeeling and other tea estates offer tea-tasting tours, for instance. Another way to do this is to take a favourite cookbook —Pratibha Karan’s book on Hyderabad food, or Sally Holkar’s book on cooking with the maharajahs — and explore a region through the eyes and experience of the writer.
Four: Abstain — Like anything else, abstinence is great for you, in moderation. Spend a month eating like a monk or an ayurveda convert — following a simple, predominantly vegetarian diet that’s low on oils and spices. Spend the month cutting out whatever bothers you most —meat, fried food, carbs, caffeine and alcohol, milk products, sweets, in-between meal snacks. Whatever you choose to do, approach it differently from a diet: this is not deprivation or even self-control. It’s a chance to listen to your body, and respond with more than a “Yeah, but…” Expect the first week without favourite foods or with a change of diet to be difficult; in two more weeks, you’ll know what your body really wants and needs. I used this approach to cut out alcohol, caffeine and colas, and to cut down on fried foods — but I also learned that I’m probably wedded to meat-eating, and that I need a ridiculous amount of fresh fruits and vegetables in order to work at peak condition.
Five: Enjoy — Spend one week every few months going back to childhood food memories and tastes. Bread with butter and sugar, and cinnamon sprinkled on top? Upma with mixed veggies the way your mother used to make? Chocolate milkshakes? Khichdi? Toast soldiers? Tiny finger-length bananas, or mangoes cut into “hedgehogs”? Ransack your memories, and go back to as many of these as you want.
Six: Reconnect — Eating according to the seasons is a practice we’ve only lost in the last generation. Jasleen Dhamija wrote a brilliant cookbook on eating for the seasons that offered recipes, and also explained why some seasonal greens and vegetables are better for you in the monsoons, which spices cut the summer heat and why meat-based, hearty stews are automatic winter choices. It’s hard to practice this fully, given the demands of our lives, but it’s worth the effort.
Start simply, by making a pact with yourself to celebrate — and cook or devour — the firsts this year: the first mangoes, the first jamuns, the first tender bamboo shoots of the year, the first hilsas post-monsoon. In a more indulgent vein, look for seasonal sweets — Calcutta has the nolen gur sandesh, only available when the sap of the date palm has been fermented over a set period of time; Delhi has an increasingly experimental array of summer gelatos; and Bombay and parts of the North offer seasonal pedas. Try and incorporate some seasonal vegetables into each week’s shopping list, and try and cook with seasonal herbs as often as you can. It’s one way of honouring the slow shift from spring to summer, monsoon to winter; keep a seasonal food diary, and build a year of delicious memories.