The Good, The Sad, The Ugly of 2015
If the Chinese almanac had a Year of Food, this would be it!
The Year Of Saying An Era, Goodbye
If you thought the news of Rhythm House shutting shop was heart wrenching, the year began with its own little lists of places that shaped the food world of two generations hanging their boots too. For Mumbai, it began with the mawa cake haven and Irani restaurant B. Merwan and Co (Mumbai), art and media world’s favourite hangout Samovar, which re-launched itself a few years back just to call it a day again; Late Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray’s favourite haunt Dattatray and Parsi adda Bastani & Co. Delhi’s sweet legacy for 225 years, Ghantewala Confectioners too said good bye along with Blue Fox in Kolkata.
The good news was of the few that survived: Like the United Coffee House and Embassy in Delhi; Paradise in Hyderabad; Mavalli Tiffin Rooms in Bengaluru; and the 400-odd Indian Coffee House across India!
The Year of Street Food
If 2014 was a year of weddings when it came to food with Thayir Sadam meeting the Spicy prawns and the Nawabi Thal of ITC as must try, 2015 had street food written all over it, albeit with a twist and lots of art! Be it Farzi Café ‘farzification’of the iconic Vada Pav; Floyd Cardoz Bombay Canteen’s Falooda Sundae or Sabyasachi Gorai’s Pide and Mochar Puff at Lavaash By Saby; Made in Punjab’s obscenely popular Palak Chaat or Indian Accent’s popular Atta and Semolina Puchkas, Calcutta Jhal potato, five waters – Çhef Manish Mehrotra’s interpretation of the iconic puchka – and the Smoked Masala Marwari Papad, Lettuce Potato Cream, Chilli Onions.
Why even the special lunch served to the delegation during PM Narendra Modi’s UAE visit had the famous Fafda and Khandavi as part of the starter!
The Year of Interesting Menu
Agreed: Presenting khadavi as a sphere with chutney as foam is nothing new: Masala Library By Jiggs Kalra has already done it. Revamping Daulaat ki Chaat with added flavours and aromas is an art Indian Accent has excelled in. Presenting drinks in Goti Bottle is a trend set by Social, which along with Long & Short, has made concept presentation an ongoing vogue.
So what has 2015 achieved? It has added more chutzpah to the plate with an equally interesting menu design. Consider this: Prawn Star (fried prawns), Dimak Ka Dahi Bhalla (curd dumpling), Jeb Katra (Lebanese style Pita Pocket) Pyar Tune Quesadilla (stuffed Tortilla) and Munni Badman (essentially Mumbai Bhel Puri). Need we say more!
The Year of Bars
From Radio Bar to Monkey Bar to Lord of The Drinks, Keya and now Ek Bar, for Delhi and Mumbai, it has been a perpetual bar war of seeing one bar opening after other. On the high, along with the food that has gone multi-cuisine, multi-dimensional and artistically presented (bye bye chakna), are the crafty Cocktails that range from the ones higher on bitters, with fruits and vegetable and one even with breakfast inside it – adult spicy hot chocolate and waffle shake anyone? Such has been the craze that coffee giant Starbucks too may come up with their own Bar menu, and Massive Restaurant’s Masala Bar that promises to take the war three notches higher with the quintessential desi spice twist!
The Year of Going Local
FSSAI’s constant zeal of finding new ingredients to put under the scanner for approval has led to the rise of the Artisanal industry of India – be it with cheese, wine, home bred exotic vegetable and fruits. In fact, recently North East emerged as the best place to procure Kiwi and oranges from; while Himachal Pradesh became the go-to state for table grapes and apples to bake. Much like Maharastra became the town for good quality Feta Cheese and Uttarakhand for mature cheese, Tami Nadu for eggs and fleshy chickens and Punjab for wild breeds and game meat!
This has led to the rise of the maximum food start up – including e-platforms, self-taught bakers, delivery services, chef on call services and more – that country has seen in the last five years. The last count of such start ups has been an awesome 44.
The year of the Slow Food
By this we are not referring only to the first Indigenous Terra Madre that took place in Shillong this November, but also the pragmatic shift towards healthier food habits and culture: be it going back to roots to discover traditional healthy food or popular trend of cold pressed juices. In fact, chefs have contributed their bit this year by choosing to cook with home-bred produce or home-brewed concept. Devang House at The Ashok, Delhi, is in fact India’s first restaurant to be curated on the lines of Ayurvedic idea of holistic living by Chef Sabysachi Gorai is an excellent example of this. The other are Monkey Bar, Zehen, Fava, Laavash by Saby and the coming soon Satvik restaurant in Jaipur.
The Year of Beef Death
No pun intended here. One of the most shocking incidents of 2015 was the illogical beef ban. It was one of the excellent examples of what dumb rules paired with personal agendas can lead to? What could have been tackled at the micro level took an ugly tone when a law was enforced banning the consumption of beef across the state. Such was the food political game that it led to the infamous Dadri killing where an innocent person was brutally killed on the ‘assumptions’ that he MAY be eating beef.
The brouhaha did little to change the situation, and the ban continues.
The year of Maggi…. and of Nestle
Nestle’s equation with FSSAI and bans is now legendary. In the past few years, the company has seen quite a few of its products – baby milk to chocolates - being pulled out of the shelf because of some issue or the other; however, none has achieved the cult status of Maggi. Banned after samples were found to have more than permissible limits of MSG, the company, under duress, burnt 27,000 tonnes of Maggi packets just to have the brand back in less than four months on the shelf.. and rocking! Deemed as the biggest PR activity in the history of packaged food, Nestle’s pasta is now under the scanner, but to little avail.
The Downside: Serious issues like finding detergent strains in Mother Dairy milk and high lead content in fresh produce and wax-like apples have been swept under the carpet. Not to forget the much publicised ouster of brand Haldiram from the US and UK market on its product being inedible.
The Year of Pathanjali
From Patnjali toothpaste to soaps to oils and now noodles that is sold without the mandatory FSSAI approval: Baba Ramdev created 2000 crore worth Ayurvedic based FMCG company is not only a miracle of direct marketing but also a perfect case study of building a brand on sheer faith. The company which has signed on DDB Mudra to handle their marketing mandate rose to the level with zero advertisement!
The Year of Wines
Let’s face it: We love our malts, we love our rums and we love our beers – and in that very order. But 2015 was an exception when it came to drinks. Thanks to Home-bred wines like Grover, Fratelli and Sula, it was the year when Reds ruled with a new fascination for whites – especially perked up with the innovative Sangria.
Agreed, we are no where near to China’s consumption of 178 million cases, but with Indian wine quality improving and the company’s proactiveness, wine has become a part of social drinking. What has helped the case is India producing some premium quality winning vinos like Grover Zampa’s La Reserve and Chene Grand Reserve, Sula Rasa, Charosa Reserve Tempranillo, Krsma Sauvignon Blanc and Fratelli Sette to name a few.
The Year of Cancerous Bacon
While locally produced breads and buns have been regularly under the cancer producing scanner by various Food safety authorities, it was the first time that WHO put a food item into the ‘be careful’list: bacon. WHO came out with a study that put bacon and other processed meat in the category of carcinogenic food – or cancer causing food items, much like tobacco and asbestos. Based on the findings of France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that tested 940 ( though some reportage say 800) found that bacon, ham and other processed meat can cause cancer. In its first report (a more elaborate one is still awaited), IARC said that people who have 50gm of red meat a day are at 18% ‘more’ risk of developing colorectal (bowel) cancer. In other words, cancer of the bum!
How many have been detected since the news broke? Almost that many that had cancer due to eating buns produced by local bakery – zero!
The year of Packaged food
Irrespective of whether it’s cold pressed juices, specially curated food boxes, Ready to Eat, Ready to Cook, instant noodles, syrups or prepackaged snacks, 2015 has been a hit for the packaged food market as the segment hit the magical $32 billion mark recently. Pegged to reach $50 billion by 2017, the reason behind such phenomenal rise is the changing food habits and hectic schedules.
While this has aided Ready-to-cook food startup Chefs Basket to raise $6 million in order to expand in 15 new cities, and a boost to local farmers from where the produce is procured, it has also led to further innovation, which will ensure further dependency on packaged food. MTR’s plan to introduce instant soup cubes is just a case in point. Will it work? 2017 will be a good year to evaluate.
