A Bite Of Nostalgia: An Exhaustive Anthology Captures People¡¯s Intimate Connection With Food

Every Sunday lunch for as long as I can remember has been my grandmother¡¯s lovingly made pakode ki kadhi and rice. I douse the rice in the kadhi, with spicy green chutney on the side, and then, lacking the patience to let it cool a little, start eating with my hands. My brother, who is not a fan of the dish, rolls his eyes and scrunches his face. But it couldn¡¯t matter less to me¡ªkadhi-chawal nourishes my soul.

I¡¯m certain everybody has that one dish that they could write an ode to. Food evokes emotion, and it does so with depth and intensity. Our comfort foods and the memories associated with them invigorate us. We find solace in them and understand connection through them. And Memories on a Plate, an upcoming anthology, aims to highlight and celebrate this intimate connection people have with food and recipes. A collaboration between Nivaala, an organisation committed to preserving culinary legacies, and The Alipore Post, a newsletter and online journal, the book combines art, poetry, illustrations, and photo essays, QR codes are linked to audio bytes, food memories, and recipes.

The group received over 350 submissions; one hundred were selected based on the depth of emotion they displayed. The book¡¯s contributors range from chefs and home cooks to culinary students and artists¡ªpeople who run Indian kitchens across the globe. The entries range from nostalgic reminiscences about family recipes to the oral culture of preserving recipes in the digital age, from the privilege of seeing cooking as a choice to poetry about appams. "Through the book, you can almost enter someone else¡¯s kitchen," said Shruti Taneja, founder of Nivaala.

Memories On A Plate

The former marketing professional founded Nivaala (morsel in Hindi) to encourage people to record and preserve family recipes. For instance, even something as simple as yellow moong dal is prepared differently in each household. The consistency, amount of salt, tadka, colour, and taste all differ. Such recipes are an archive, not just of the cook and the unique preparation, but also of the family. And this culture is carried on from one generation to the next.

Food For Thought

Taneja didn¡¯t get a chance to learn her mother¡¯s recipes. So when she passed away, Taneja realised that the entire kitchen tradition had come to a halt. For instance, during festivals like Basant Panchmi, she was used to seeing yellow rice being prepared. Seasonal changes were also marked by special items. Summer brought with it aam panna syrup and aam ka achaar, while winter welcomed kanji and gaajar muli ka achaar. After Taneja¡¯s mother passed, all of that stopped. "These are little things we take for granted. We think it¡¯s automatic, and it¡¯ll always be there," Taneja said.

Once she learned this wasn¡¯t the case, she launched Nivaala in 2020. It started with the creation of an empty heirloom recipe journal, which people could order and fill with up to 40 family recipes. "Like saris and jewellery, recipes are just as precious an inheritance," she said. These journals are a way for people to record an oral culture populated mainly by women and preserve this knowledge. "We don¡¯t spend time in the kitchen with our mothers like they did with their mothers," she said. Earlier this year, Taneja launched Andaaz Publishing, a personalised family cookbook publishing service in partnership with Chinmayee Manjunath, an editor and communications strategist.

Nivaala Journal

Over time, Nivaala¡¯s activities expanded. They started creating magazines focused on specific ingredients, like The Legume Project, The Jackfruit Project, and The Mushroom Project. Within this initiative, the hero ingredient is sent to chefs and home cooks nationwide who use it differently, highlighting its versatility and how it can sit comfortably with diverse flavour profiles. "We were amazed to see the variety with which one ingredient is made so differently in each region of each state and in every household."

And then there is Legacy Kitchen, a collaborative series of condiments co-created with chefs and restaurants using a recipe from their family repertoire. This first in the series is the launch of raw mango mustard chutney, a quintessential Bengali recipe by Chef Anuroopa made in partnership with Shaan Agarwal at Jaipur Modern Kitchen, Rajasthan. "The project shows how one recipe can teach you so much about someone¡¯s culture and expression. It¡¯s about getting people together around that one recipe," Taneja said.

A Taste Of Tradition

While recipes are the star of the show, the culture one builds around food is also worth preserving ¡ª what one eats, when, why and how reflect a family¡¯s collective identity. Women primarily populate this living food tradition since most home cooks are still women. Recognising their role is a way of acknowledging their presence, creativity, and handwork.

Jackfruit Project

The act of collecting family recipes is also a way of recognising women¡¯s cooking as an act of love. Remembering to make something less spicy or of a different consistency, being mindful of how the family members like to eat something, and presenting it in that way are all acts of love. For instance, Taneja eats rajma a particular way. She wants a thick gravy with pieces of roti broken into it and topped with green chutney. So it was always prepared that way for her. "Today, if someone else has to make rajma for me, they won¡¯t know how," she pointed out. "It¡¯s how they show their love and care for me."

Over the last three years, through Nivaala, Taneja said she's been "mind-blown by the amount I¡¯m getting to learn about people¡¯s home foods and memories." She¡¯s also recognised how diverse Indian cuisine really is. And Nivaala is her way of reinforcing the positivity that food inspires and ensuring India¡¯s breathtaking culinary diversity and deep knowledge don¡¯t disappear one day.