An online group also meets offline to understand Delhi through its many foods, says Radhika Arora.
There aren’t too many things Dilliwalas take more seriously than their food. Cooking, eating, discussing the meal after wolfing it down; they’re all part of the ethos of food we grow up with. Relationships are made and unmade over a meal in this city. In that vein, Eating Out in Delhi (EOiD) – an e-community – believes that the best way of getting to know Delhi and its people intimately is through the city’s foods. When Hemanshu Kumar, who teaches economics at the Delhi School of Economics, returned to Delhi a few years ago, he started an Orkut (an online social networking site) community and blog to reacquaint himself with the city. He wrote in with city secrets, and received many in return – eventually leading to the creation of EOiD, which has roughly 300 members today.
EOiD members discover and sample all kinds of foods across Delhi. Almost every weekend, they meet to feast. So far, there have been 30 excursions – some to Shahjahanabad (which, of course, has some of the best food in town).
The moderators usually decide on the next excursion (based on the research, comments and recommendations on the blog) and post the event online. Everyone is welcome to join. Usually, this results in groups of not more than six to seven people, occasionally going up to a group of 20. Larger groups can be overwhelming for restaurateurs, but they haven’t come up with a strategy for that yet.
For members, though, these trips are not just about the food. Visiting places like Shahjahanabad, Sadar Bazaar, or even residential areas like Chittaranjan Park, throw up various sociological and anthropological insights into the community inhabiting that area. It’s a truism by now that Delhi is a melting pot of cultures, and it isn’t hard to trace down fairly authentic versions of regional cuisines: Tibetan, Bengali, Gujarati et al. EOiD members make a special effort to focus on Delhi areas that have a concentration of people from other parts of India.
There’s a difference, Kumar said, in the way that people in different parts of the city interact with each other. “I bought some food in Old Delhi and as I fumbled in my wallet to pay for it, the vendor told me to relax and enjoy my food first. I realised that for him it was not about the money, but about the food.” He went on to say that when you walk from Chawri Bazaar into Gali Kababiyan, the food abruptly switches from mainly vegetarian to mainly non-vegetarian – a sign of the different food habits of the two largest communities there.
The group is also deeply interested in the history of the food they’re sampling. Kumar told us about a time when a foodie from Lucknow pointed out that a lot of the cuisine in Delhi came from food that used to be cooked for army personnel in Delhi – as opposed to food cooked for nawabs in places like Lucknow.
Don’t let us lead you to believe, though, that meeting up with EOiD could ruin your appetite with academic deconstruction of the food and everything that surrounds it. The group intends not only to get to know the city and its foods better, but also to have a very good time doing that. “There aren’t too many cyber-communities that come together in the real world,” said Asmita Kabra, lecturer at Delhi University, and an EOiD member. “I’ve lived in Delhi all my life, and I’m fascinated by the street food scene and the prices, like the kheer kadam for Rs 5 at CR Park. I’ve also made friends and have met all kinds of people.” Whether it’s food or friends you are looking for, log on to the EOiD blog.
Source : Time Out Delhi ISSUE 11 Friday, August 20, 2010
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