Food Cultures of India

Food Cultures of India
Release of the IIC Quarterly Winter 2023 - Spring 2024 Special Issue
Edited by Kiranmayi Bhushi and Omita Goyal
To be released by Dr. Karan Singh, Chairman, IIC Editorial Board
Followed by a panel discussion with
Prof. R. Mahalakshmi, Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Navtej Singh Johar, dancer-choreographer, yoga practitioner, scholar and social activist; Jamal Shaikh, National Editor, Brunch Magazine, The Hindustan Times; and Prof. Kiranmayi Bhushi, School of Social Sciences, Indira Gandhi National Open University and Co-editor of the volume
Food is the buzz word that seems to occupy the public sphere in India lately. There is proliferation of writing on all things related to food: cook books, tomes on particular food items, wellness related themes, travel writings and culinary practices related to nutrition and diet. TV and social media platforms too are inundated with shows and snippets on food. The culinary superstars in turn have spawned the culture of celebrity chefs that have made the ordinary, domestic and marginal space of the kitchen into the extraordinary. Food is also a great signifier and marker of distinction: middle class aspirations and acquisition of tastes, of caste, gender, religion, ethnicity or nationality. This volume is an overview of the transformation of foodways and its social contexts of India. It is a multi-disciplinary enquiry into the ways in which food and its production and consumption are enmeshed in all aspects of human existence and society.