Food Science for the Indian Kitchen

Indian cooking tends to be considered an exotic art, rich in tradition and culture while Western food is supposed to be scientific and bland. This unfortunate “orientalisation” has resulted in a tendency to keep science at an arm’s length from the kitchen. It has also given rise to a ton of pseudo-scientific misconceptions about modern cooking methods and a distinct preference for freshly cooked food prepared from scratch that involves a ton of manual labour (usually by women).
As is the case with Indian classical music, there is also a relative lack of accurate archival or documentation about cooking techniques and ingredients, thus leaving the average home cook at the mercy of what I call the “tyranny of the authentic recipe”.

This talk will focus on some of the more egregious misconceptions that are common in Indian kitchens and address them through the lens of food science.

Who should attend: If you eat food, you should attend. Food will not be served at the event, but lots of photographs will be shown to inspire you to take to the ladle, and some pots and pans.

Participation: is via Zoom. Link will be shared with registered participants only. Or, you can watch the livestream on this page.

About the speaker: Krish Ashok is an IT guy, amateur musician, columnist and a food science enthusiast who cooks daily. Krish is writing a book on food science for the Indian kitchen for Penguin India, due for release later this year. The book aims to take a first crack at a standardized set of food-science certified methods for the Indian kitchen, to help make cooking more productive, accurate, joyful and experimental.

About the moderator: Nadika Nadja is a writer, communications professional and ethnographic researcher by the day. In the evenings and night, Nadika is a foodie, experimenting with chutneys, fusion cooking and preparing menus.

Contact details: For inquiries, call 7676332020 or email info@hasgeek.com