Tanya Abraham - Eating with History: Ancient Trade-Influenced Cuisines of Kerala

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Website: www.niyogibooksindia.com Text Tanya Abraham
Photographs Author, and as acknowledged for individual sources Editor: Mohua Mitra
Design: Nabanita Das
Cover Design: Author ISBN: 978-93-89136-26-5
Publication: 2020 All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without prior written permission and consent of the publisher. Printed at: Niyogi Offset Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India Title Page: Whole black pepper, widely grown in Kerala, is an important ingredient in the region's ethnic cuisine Domestic fishing boats in Kochi now dock where once anchored large canoes that carried spices for trade In memory of my grandmother, Annie Burleigh Kurishingal. To my mother, for soul food To keep the home alive, at its core, remained my grandmothers kitchen.

Homemade rose cookies were an integral part of the traditional food produced in this kitchen Contents The food trail is extensive. There are numerous recipes in each community in Kerala. These communities, influenced by foreign trade, drew their uniqueness from the marrying of flavours through cultures. Bazaar Road in Mattancherry, the Jew Town, housed godowns for spice trade.Many of the ancient buildings and communities still exist Foreword I t gives me immense pleasure to write a few words on Tanya Abrahams Eating with History: Ancient Trade-Influenced Cuisines of Kerala . This book is an invaluable compendium of a variety of food recipes that evolved out of Keralas kitchen, thanks to the creative and nuanced cross-cultural interactions that happened through the channels of trade. By analysing the historical contexts within which different communities (like the Jews, Syrian Christians, Muslims, Anglo-Indians etc.,) and their consumption culture appeared in Kerala, Tanya Abraham has provided scholars with new ways of understanding the unique but varied and rich food culture of Kerala.

The initial part of the workhistorically contextualising the webs of cultural connectivities of Keralaprovides a useful introduction to the understanding of the ways how its various threads of culinary culture got evolved and got mixed with various elements of foreign food culture, always creating new textures, tastes and flavours in the process of local adaptations. The range of the book is of such sweep and vastness that it conveys a nuanced and layered understanding of the wide variety of historical processes with which different parallel food traditions evolved among Christians, Jews, Muslims and Anglo-Indians, evidently suggesting a certain amount of exclusiveness among them on food matters despite sharing the same space and same living conditions. The author shows that it happens mainly because of the creative meanings that each community gives to the food ingredients, which eventually is made to evolve as its marker of identity. The recipes of most of the food items of various communities of Kerala are also given in meticulous detail, which in turn serve as a rich guide for every household to prepare and taste the best food of the land. I am delighted to say that this easy-to-read book is valuable and well written, with a refreshing sense of excitement at the vast range of knowledge packed in the recipes of every kind of regional food and dish that Kerala is famous for. It is a valuable treasure for the students and researchers of Indian food culture and an easy reference book for every household that treasures and wants to prepare and taste the best food from the past.

As there is no authentic work so far on the historical contextualisation of the eating traditions of various communities of Kerala and their recipes, this is a long overdue publication. I eagerly look forward to its publication and subsequent availability in the larger world of food lovers, academicians, and readers keen to learn the history and the process of cultural evolution in Kerala.
Dr Pius Malekandathil Professor Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Meen pollichathu cooked with the fresh catch of the day in Syrian Christian style, exudes one of the many unique flavours of Kerala Preface T his book is in honour of the creativity and work of the many women in kitchens across Kerala, for cherishing the recipes passed down generations and bringing heart to homes. In my three years of study, it was understood that these communities, influenced by foreign trade in Kerala, drew their uniqueness from the marrying of flavours through cultures. It is assumed that in an otherwise predominantly vegetarian region, a variety of meats, fish and other seafood rose to become dominant foods at a later stage, curried to life from outside influences. The food trail is extensive, and I believe I may have only skimmed the surface of the food trove of these communities.

There are numerous recipes in each community, each conjured up by women in families across Kerala; it was not however possible to document all of them. Yet, the journey has been rewarding in multifarious ways: to all those who spent time with me explaining the nuances of their kitchen fare, all the while collecting recipes from relatives and friends, and for the hospitality that brought to the conversations flavours new, thank you. Between stone jars of pickles, the smell of firewood and burning coal...stood my grandmother Ammamas Kusinchya I grew up in a small town in Kerala, in a big tarawad reminded us of the importance of wise dining. It was she who taught me to use cutlery and chew my food slowly to allow the flavours to coat my tongue. Her skills never cease[d] to amaze me, like when she formed cutlets with one palm, throwing them in hot fat in a continuous rhythm whilst stirring curry with the other, simultaneously monitoring the cooking for at least forty people at any given time. Lawns were decorated with fairy lights during parties.

A shamiana was set up in the backyard to serve as the temporary kitchen of the Kurishingal tarawad Over steaming vessels, grandmother narrated stories of how as a young bride she cooked for my great-grandfatherher father-in-law