Gourmet’s lodestar: Tarla Dalal tickled our palate with the delights of India’s eclectic vegetarian traditions
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While the tributes paid to Tarla Dalal
following her death in Mumbai on Wednesday have been fulsome, they do
not quite reflect the enormity of her contribution to expanding the
culinary horizons of her compatriots. Before she arrived on the scene
with the publication of The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking in 1974,
food writers tended to focus on their local culinary traditions.
Exceptions to this norm - such as Madhur Jaffrey and Thangam E Philip -
were few and far between. It is Tarla Dalal who pioneered efforts to
expose our palate to the exuberantly eclectic range of Indian vegetarian
dishes, sweets, savouries, pickles, chutneys and preserves (including,
in the first place, those of Gujarat) as well as to flavours from other
climes such as Italy, Thailand and China.
This singular achievement recalls similar accomplishments of some distinguished food writers of the last century. Elizabeth David and Jane Grigson, for example, were hailed for changing the food habits of the British, much like Julia Child and MFK Fisher earned the gratitude of their fellow Americans for introducing them to the delights of French gastronomy.
These writers however were also praised for their literary gifts and their lively interest in culinary history - something that Tarla Dalal didn't match or even aspire to match. Her ambitions were modest: to provide recipes that used locally-available ingredients and involved uncomplicated cooking techniques. She was also fiendishly health-conscious. That explains the whopping popularity of her books - more than a hundred, many translated into several Indian and foreign languages - as well as of her TV shows and website. The legacy she leaves behind - a celebration of the tastes of India - will continue to inspire and enchant cooks and gourmets for years to come.
This singular achievement recalls similar accomplishments of some distinguished food writers of the last century. Elizabeth David and Jane Grigson, for example, were hailed for changing the food habits of the British, much like Julia Child and MFK Fisher earned the gratitude of their fellow Americans for introducing them to the delights of French gastronomy.
These writers however were also praised for their literary gifts and their lively interest in culinary history - something that Tarla Dalal didn't match or even aspire to match. Her ambitions were modest: to provide recipes that used locally-available ingredients and involved uncomplicated cooking techniques. She was also fiendishly health-conscious. That explains the whopping popularity of her books - more than a hundred, many translated into several Indian and foreign languages - as well as of her TV shows and website. The legacy she leaves behind - a celebration of the tastes of India - will continue to inspire and enchant cooks and gourmets for years to come.
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