NMay 11, 2012, 10:49 AM
From ‘Incredible India’ to the ‘Incredible Tiffin’
By NIKHILA GILL
Courtesy ITC Hotels
The dishes laid out at Cuisine India Society’s launch party of their
brand, “Incredible Tiffin,” at ITC Maurya Hotel, New Delhi, May 9, 2012.
Lamb cooked seven different ways, crispy papdi laden with tamarind
chutney and yogurt, cottage cheese with raw mangoes in silken tomato
gravy —these were just some of the 37 dishes at the “Incredible Tiffin”
dinner Wednesday evening in New Delhi, sponsored by the Cuisine India
Society to promote India’s vast variety of cuisines.
“The menu reflects five years of research,” said the chef, Maneesha
Lamba.
The society hopes to put India on the world’s culinary map by
displaying its rich food traditions. At a time when pundits and
politicians alike are urging India to expand its soft power and
increase its influence, food can be a powerful tool to introduce
India’s multitude of cultural customs to the rest of the world.
“The diversity of Indian food echoes the idea of India,” said Dileep
Padgaonkar, former editor in chief of the Times of India. “I bought a
book in Maharashtra that has 168 preparations of brinjal (eggplant)
alone,” he said. “And this is only one state.”
The tiffin is a reference to a light meal contained in a box, called a
dabba, and every day thousands of dabbawallas deliver the packed
home-cooked meals to offices. The Incredible Tiffin campaign will
promote food weeks all over the world, sell tiffin boxes and food maps
as memorabilia, publish region-specific books and pamphlets, and create
India’s own culinary awards, akin to the James Beard Foundation awards.
“After all, we can’t sell the Taj Mahal and backwaters forever,” said
V. Sunil of the ad agency Wieden & Kennedy, who created the successful
“Incredible India” tourism campaign and has now turned his efforts to
Incredible Tiffin.
Subodh Kant Sahay, India’s tourism minister, congratulated the
society’s effort Wednesday evening. “This will give us a new mascot,”
he said, referring to the tiffin, while chewing paan masala , a mixture
of betel leaf, lime, areca nut, clove, cardamom, mint and tobacco. He
said he hopes that the campaign attracts a “modest five million
tourists” over the next year.
The Incredible Tiffin project addresses the country’s soft power
objectives, but Cuisine India Society also hopes to promote the idea of
food as an art form, calling for chefs to be treated on par with great
musicians, artists and writers.
“The day a chef gets the Bharat Ratna is the day Indian cuisine would
have truly arrived,” said Mr. Padgaonkar, referring to India’s top
award for service to the country, evoking resounding applause from the
roomful of food enthusiastsew York Times (May 11, 2012)
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