Nowadays there is a lot of interest in food that tickles our taste buds. When I started my career as a cookery instructor, ladies wanted to learn home making.

Though I still teach people to make good food at home, the guests who visit me are mostly from other countries. My guests are generally those who are keen to experience the home-cooked Kerala food.
Every culture on earth has its own tradition and food habits.

Kerala has a tradition of assimilating and making as its own anything that the Malayali sees as good for them. However far Malayalis may travel, they long for the experiences back home. That’s special about Keralites.

A lot can be said about ethnic foods and traditional cooking. In short, let us see how important it is to conserve and keep alive those memories of good foods we had when we were younger.

When I say traditional, it means the things we see as good, things given by our elders, and things we value above money. Many of the new foods in town are ‘home foods’ in other places.

Yet, a note of caution. It is for our own benefit that we look carefully at the foods we eat outside our homes, especially the food we buy for our children. If they are hygienic, then there is nothing wrong in trying it out. Also learn to appreciate the wide variety of cuisines of the world.

This writer is a food expert who conducts cookery classes for tourists in Kochi