The Culinary Chroniclers Conclave 2018: Part 1 - Highlights of Keynotes, Conversations, Presentations

I am a culinary chronicler!

And the first ever Culinary Chroniclers Conclave 2018 is a wrap! It’s been two weeks since, but I’m still not over the high. And all the great messages from those who attended (thank you all!) are keeping me there! But in all of this, I thought I should just take a moment to savour the day, the happenings, the wonderful interactions and share them with all of you that did not or could not join us!

As I said in my welcome speech, the career of food writing found me by serendipity 16 odd years ago. Over time I went on to discover food blogging, then progressed into social media; Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. (I stopped there but new platforms are being launched every day). I've had a gratifying journey in food going from writing 2500 paid-by-the-word articles to 240 word tweets, visual Insta-stories and hashtags on Twitter.

We are at a most exciting phase in the food world of India. Food, in all its aspects; production, preparation, consumption and more, proliferate our lives. We are eating, reading, talking about, watching, even identifying ourselves with and through food, and cooking, more than ever before. And to feed this ever growing consumption of food content are a very important segment of people. Those individuals who tell the stories of the food producers, that record diverse facets of food preparation, and document its consumption. It is their work that tells us what we cook, how we cook, what we eat, when we eat, how we eat, where we eat, why we eat and more. Giving us insights into understanding food, cooking consumption and related trends.. 

From my world view of the industry, I have watched many, many conversations between different sections of the industry, both positive and negative. The mediums for chronicling are evolving, and with them, our conversations must evolve too. I have always wanted to create a platform for all of us, whatever the medium we chronicle in, to come together so we might learn from each other and perhaps weave a new narrative together. Hence the idea of the Culinary Chroniclers Conclave - a common platform for chroniclers from various disciplines to connect with one another, share divergent perspectives and hopefully weave a wonderful new narrative around food! Vikhroli Cucina, and the entire Godrej team, shared our vision and helped bring it to life.

After months of planning, curation, and coordination, the day of the first Culinary Chroniclers Conclave dawned, sunny and bright (in July!), as we all gathered at the beautiful Godrej One campus in Vikhroli, Mumbai. With some some truly lovely spaces, simultaneously green and aesthetically modern, the venue proved to be an ideal backdrop for a cerebral meet like the conclave. Starting with the stunning auditorium where the conclave was held, fabulously appointed smaller conference rooms, in which we showcased some great masterclasses and creatively embellished lounge areas, right down to the beautifully laid out atrium space we used for the food art exhibit that fed the creative soul, every corner of the building is beautiful, all done in minimalist white with huge windows that let in an abundance of natural light.

The Atrium, Godrej One Campus

This year, the conclave focused on four key streams, based on four broad mediums of chronicling food and cuisine - Art and Craft, Literature and Journalism, Styling and Photography, and Film and Media. The schedule for the day was packed with multiple parallely running tracks of activities like keynotes, discussions, lectures and masterclasses. In the auditorium itself, we wanted to keep the theme casual, and the conversations flowing. So we used beautiful furniture from Godrej Interio to transform the stage into a chronicler’s home, where our guests would comfortably sit and reflect on world of the culinary chronicler. It was against this backdrop, that our speakers and presenters were showcased, with musicians adding accents of music in between.

Sharing the beautiful Godrej Interio stage with Sujit Patil

The day began with a welcome by Sujit Patil, Vice President and Head - Corporate Brand and Communications, Godrej Industries Limited and Associate Companies, who was intrinsic to this conclave taking place, supporting all our ideas all the way, and myself. This was followed by keynotes presented by the four stream champions. I presented on the stream of art and craft, talking about the evolution of Food Art, the world of food artists and the food art exhibit. Then food writer Vikram Doctor took over to talk about the evolution of food literature. Saba Gaziyani, India’s foremost food stylist and photographer, and founder of Food Photographics, then carried the baton forward by speaking on food styling & photography in India and photographing Indian food. Finally, Ruchi Shrivastava, TV producer and owner of Greed Goddess Media, spoke on the evolution of film and new media as a chronicling medium. These keynotes set the tone for the day, and as it unfolded, the conclave went on to explore various mediums of culinary chronicling, the forms they take, and how we, as chroniclers interact with them.

Presenting keynotes with fellow stream champions Vikram Doctor, Saba Gaziyani and Ruchi Shrivastava

Our first session for the day was on Culinary Chronicles of India, by Dr. Mohsina Mukadam, Professor & Head, Department Of History, Ruia College, and also one of India’s few food historians. While most of India’s culinary history has been passed down orally, there are some documented chronicles. But besides these, there are many other resources that have captured and preserved information about our food culture. During her session, Mohsina ma’am shed light on existing lesser known/unusual sources of reference for food history, how to find them, and what can be inferred from them. She spoke about traditional sources like historic travellers accounts and cookbooks, and many others that are often in plain sight, but easily overlooked. For example, community cookbooks, that tell us by mentions, and the lack thereof, of ingredients used or dishes cooked at the time they were written, thereby helping historians deduce what ingredients were available, or food consumption patterns of the time the books were written in. She also talked about legacy restaurants being a source for chronicling. From their names and sign boards to their menus, old restaurants shed light on the cultural climate of their market throughout their existence, while their menu boards and menus reveal information about food culture and history.

Dr. Mohsina Mukadam unearthing unusual sources of culinary chronicles

The history note of the conclave took a whole new and unique turn with the next session. There is a marked absence of written historical documentation around the consumption of food in most communities. This is perhaps due to historically low literacy amongst women, who were the traditional cooks at home, and who then, typically passed down food knowledge orally to future generations. Saee Koranne-Khandekar, author of Crumbs!, and culinary consultant who runs Scrollific Content Studio, hosted a conversation on Food and Oral Tradition with Lalita Iyer, columnist, journalist, and author of recently published books, Grandma’s Tales and Grandpa’s Tales, collating folk tales from grandparents, and Shubra Chatterji, TV Producer behind popular food shows like Chakh Le India, and whose research has taken her to small towns in rural India, to discover lesser-known recipes and ingredients, regional food, and culinary stories. Shubhra is currently also working on a book that chronicles the culinary history of India. This session took the audiences through an enthralling journey of discovery of food chronicles in the form of harvest songs, nursery rhymes, fables, folktales, songs, rhymes, idioms, metaphors and more.

Lalita Iyer, Saee Koranne-Khandekar and Shubhra Chatterji in conversation about Oral Traditions of Food

Vikram Doctor then came back on stage to interview food writer and critic Marryam H. Reshii about how one could go about building a career in food writing. As one of India’s finest, most celebrated food writers and critics, Marryam has been writing about food and travel for more than 3 decades. In this span she has amassed a considerable body of work that ranges from independent features, (several) food guides and books, including her most recent iconic work, “The Flavour of Spice: Journey, Recipes and Stories”. Sharing her wisdom on successfully writing on the subject of food, she spoke about the importance of strengthening our knowledge of Indian food history, the provenance and origins of Indian foods, and the importance of analysis in food writing.

Vikram Doctor speaks to Marryam H. Reshii about building a career in food writing

When one talks about food writing, cookbooks feature as a strong genre. Mohsina Ma’am had already remarked on their ability to be a great window into the culture, history, diet, ingredients, struggles of any people or place. Taking this conversation forward, Vikram Doctor, perhaps the most prolific collector of cookbooks and food books (an obsession he has passed on to me) hosted a discussion with Saee, who in addition to being the author of Crumbs!, has also written a privately published family cookbook and is a proponent of Maharashtrian cuisine. Also in the conversation was Jyotsna Shahane, filmmaker, blogger (The Cooks Cottage) and author of The Classic Konkan Cookbook, a modern recast version of Narayani Nayak’s classic Konkani cook book originally titled '500 Easy Recipes'. Both Saee and Jyotsna are also avid collectors of cookbooks. And what a discussion it was! With threads of conversations ranging from the kinds of cookbooks being published today, to what makes cookbooks still relevant, to what makes a cookbook truly interesting in the age of ‘Google’, when thousands of recipes for nearly any dish are just a click away! The trio also deliberated on why some of the most interesting cookbooks today are self-published because mainstream publishers will not bet on them, and what it is that publishing houses are really after in the genre. It was a session that I did not want ending!

Saee Koranne-Khandekar and Jyotsna Shahane speaking to Vikram Doctor about the significance of cookbooks

While cookbooks reflect home cooking, another side of food culture is dining out. An area of phenomenal growth in India. And with its growth there has also been an evolution in the role of the restaurant critic. Our next session was a discussion between food writers and restaurant critics Antoine Lewis and Sourish Bhattacharyya, who were accompanied by Anisha Oommen editor and co founder of The Goya Journal. The session touched on a variety of topics. What separates the restaurant critic from other reviewers? In a world where all opinions have equal value, what is the role of the critic today? Knowing your food and being a good writer are fundamental but are they adequate? The debate of the food critic versus the Zomato reviewer? The discussion was delightfully provocative, and elicited strong opinions from the guests on stage, as well as from the audience.

Sourish Bhattacharyya, Antoine Lewis and Anisha Rachel Oommen in deep conversation over the role of the restaurant critic

The proliferation of food content consumption on the internet, through crowd-sourced restaurant review sites, and online food publications like The Goya Journal, set the context for the next part of the day’s proceedings - topics covering video and new media channels that are used to chronicle food.

Chef Varun Inamdar, took the stage next with his session on How to be a Culinary Video Star! Having built an extremely successful brand for himself as The Bombay Chef on his cooking show by the same name on YouTube. Varun, always one of my favourite speakers at any event, spoke on the importance of well-researched, original, genuine and empathetic digital content and shared his personal guiding principles to follow for those aspiring to build their own public brands in this space.

Chef Varun Inamdar takes the audience through the hard work that goes behind creating a successful video brand

Considering the sheer volume of video content being created on the internet everyday (apparently, 400 hours of content uploaded every minute, on YouTube alone!), our next speaker was someone we all had been looking forward to hearing from.  Bhaskar Ramesh, Head of YouTube Sales & Brand Advertising, took the stage to speak about the kind of food content that is currently working on YouTube, things that a serious video content creator can look forward to, and how they can use information and tools easily available from Google and YouTube, to strategically create unique content that stands out on the platform.

Bhaskar Ramesh shares tips on creating unique video content that stands out

Finally, the ribbon that tied the whole day together was a closing keynote by leading journalist, food critic and food commentator, Vir Sanghvi. Vir is someone I have looked up to, like many in our industry, for almost as long as I have been a food chronicler. And just like his columns, his keynote eruditely summed up the fabulous day, touching upon all the topics discussed through the day, and summing them up beautifully. He concluded with what he believes will be the future of culinary chronicling in India. More on that in another piece.

Vir Sanghvi sharing his perspective on the world of the culinary chronicler

Our last speaker of the day was Chef Ranveer Brar, one of the most cerebral chefs of our time, with a multifaceted, sufi outlook to work and life that always makes him someone for great listening! An accomplished chef, he is also a master storyteller - a chronicler of food stories from the bylanes of India and its unsung food producers. Having successfully created multifaceted content across various channels and media, from writing columns and books, to creating content for TV and video, Ranveer had us enthralled with stories of food from history, his travels and his food experiences!

Chef Ranveer Brar speaking about the role of storytelling in creating food content

Ending on the note that I have to quote him on “Just because right now there is a need for information, recipes, historical texts and research, do we want to lose the romance with food? I don’t think we should.”

*Mike Drop*

In my next post, I will tell you about our masterclasses where our stream masters took a select few delegates through the elaborate process that goes behind creating quality culinary content in art, literature, media, and photography.