Head to this conference on food and history for a unique twist of taste

Illustration/ Ravi Jadhav

For the past five years, caterer and archaeologist Kurush Dalal has been bringing together both his professions to talk about the archaeology of food. This has led to Archeobroma, a conference on food culture organised by the India Study Centre (INSTUCEN) Trust and the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies (CEMS) of the University of Mumbai. The event will be held over two days and look at food vis-a-vis history, archaeology and sociology.

"This is an attempt to understand how food should be studied. People are interested in history of food, but no one has determined a structure to work in. While archaeologists excavate all kinds of food remains, they classify them only scientifically. The shape of a vessel we eat from can tell you the staple food of a community; but no one [has explored this angle]," says Dalal.

Kurush Dalal

Questions are the answers
The first section, called Concepts in Food Studies, will focus on creating an academic framework for examining food from points of view of history, archaeology and sociology. "We will also look at the interaction of food with Ayurveda, the traditional Indian doctrine of wellness and health. This will be held by Dr Shailesh Nadkarni," informs Dalal.

One of the speakers, Mohsina Mukadam, who is the vice principal of Ruia College, has been studying the history of food. "I have friends who document food of their community. Now, that is anthropology and ethnography but not history. Mukadam will discuss how historians study food, and help people who document food to ask the right questions, which will help raise the right data. The idea is to form a better structure for the study of food," Dalal explains.

Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal

Food as we know it
The second section stands at the intersection of nutrition, cookery and social values, by examining basic foods. This integrated lens will be used to examine Indian food practices related to cereals, pulses, meats and fats. While Sid Khullar will talk about animal protein, Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal will discuss vegetarian protein.

Mohsina Mukadam

Taste of diaspora
One of the sessions is on diasporic foods where they will discuss the food traditions of Parsi, Bene Israeli and Sindhi communities. "These three make up the largest migrant communities of Mumbai, who came as refugees," says Dalal as he goes on to compare this influence to the mass food traditions such as Udupi, Punjabi or Moghlai, which are established signposts of eating out in Mumbai.

Sid Khullar

Another session will examine the traditions of food selection, preparation and consumption among five autochthonous communities - the Kolis, Pathare Prabhus, Gaud Saraswat Brahmins, East Indians and Konkani Muslims. Finally, the conference will look at subaltern regions, which have rarely figured on the food scene of modern urban life - Coorg, Garhwal, Bundelkhand and Assam. "From the Coorgi cuisine, for instance, we only know pandi curry. But do you know that the souring agent (Kochumpalli) used to make it is a cousin of the kokum and comes from south east Asia? This is exactly what we want to bring out. Food is a great unifier," Dalal signs off.

ON: May 5 and 6, 9 am
AT: Mumbai University, Kalina
EMAIL: archaeomaha@gmail.com (to book a seat)
COST: Rs 2,000

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