The passion of foodways brings together some of the most fascinating insights into India’s ancient culture. What’s even more remarkable is when women– both traveller and local home cook, get together to share this sensory journey, amazing things happen. It’s not unknown that cooking can be a truly therapeutic experience, but what’s also well -established is what an adventure it can be exploring the culinary heritage and foodie pursuits of the places we visit.
Women travellers encounter a rich and thrilling world of colours, textures and aromas that can transform their worldview of India, in a family kitchen of an Indian hostess. What adds more zest to that cooking lesson is that it while it economically empowers your hostess, it is culturally empowering you! A win-win situation for both!
Discover the wonder of finding new and fascinating ways of using vegetables, fruits, cereals, meats, fish, herbs and spices, ways by the different communities across India’s many geographies. Bond with your local hostess even more deeply while exploring how the same spices define dishes in a regional context. It’s a mind boggling experiential odyssey of delights as you travel across the length and breadth of the country!
In the gorgeous Coonoor hills spend some happy moments amongst the fabled spice plantation and tea estates. You will love to expand this adventure to encompass a thrilling cooking session with a local hostess and even get to share some of the family’s secret recipes. Shopping for ingredients in the bazaar, delving into the family spice box, helping prepare the iconic Kodagu dish – Pandi (pork), curry and creating magic with produce and spices… and then enjoying the bonhomie over the cooked meal– this will be one of your most indelible takeaways of culinary India.
In Pondicherry discover the magic of Indo Creole cooking under the mentorship of Manisha. Hop on to an auto to pick your choice of meat or vegetables at the famous Goubert Market and learn about the variety of masalas. A visit to this atmospheric market is always a thrill as so much is happening all around you. It’s a wonderful journey picking and choosing ingredients for a Creole meal from the great variety of produce on sale —from fresh vegetables to meat, fish and poultry. Then follow Manisha’s instructions while helping prepare a salad, a starter, a main course, and a dessert. End the session by digging into the tasty meal cooked by you with Manisha’s help in a cozy garden.
At an eco-friendly farm Ikaki Bagh, on the outskirts of Jaipur discover the wonderment of home cooking with its spicy edge of Rajasthani dishes. Devika Rathore and Chandrika Rathore will take you through the paces of a meal created in olden-times local traditions. You will love the connect you have with these two ladies over a shared passion for good food and how it adds a new dimension to understanding the community. It beautifully underpins the delight of ‘Culture Through Food’ pursuits.
Her signature Cooking Sessions and Recreational Cooking Classes have created quite buzz amongst women travellers. Anchal Bhalla at Taste Sutra unleashes her passion for India’s culinary heritage with fun-filled sessions and a great learning affair where you get to meet other like –minded women who enjoy the delights of cooking and culinary stories.
Her passion for food transformed hostess Jeanette Dale into a teacher-cum-cooking instructor. Share the richness of her experiences as she introduces you to her roots in Kerala’s Anglo-Indian community. As a woman you will strike up a unique bond with her as she unveils the richness of her community’s culinary culture. Join other like-minded women travellers at her cookery classes where shares the finer details of traditional Kerala and Anglo-Indian fusion cooking with her guests.
This tantalizing tryst with epicurean India is bound to be one of the most indelible memories of holidaying in India. A special twist to it comes from bonding with another woman from another country, another culture, in the intimacy of her family home and the heart of it–the kitchen, where all kinds of magic is unleashed with the plenitude of the good earth and enjoying the personal interactions and exchange of ideas.