India is internationally famous for adapting cuisines and giving them a desi twist. But, Bengaluru’s gourmets take food super serious and like to savour the essence of International cuisines as is. We found that cuisines like Malaysian, Mediterranean, Moroccan, Mexican, Texan and so on are seeing some prominence in namma ooru. We speak to experts and food lovers to understand this palate pleasure.
Anirudh Nopany the Chef and owner of Brik Oven says, “There are several hidden places in Bengaluru that serve authentic Korean and Japanese food. These restaurants are run by the Korean and Japanese people and you also find a lot of people from the community dining in these places. With the produce available here they serve food that’s authentic and flavoursome.”
Bengalureans love the authenticity of these international cuisines as opposed to its adaptation to the Indian cuisine. Anirudh adds, “A few new Chinese restaurants serve the authentic version of the food and Bengalureans it with its true essence. From serving dimsums, chowmein and others without overloading it with soy sauce, the authentic Chinese food has gained its own fandom.”
A lot of people use world cuisine as a gateway into different cultures. Food is the key that opens the door to explore a culture. Different areas of the world have so many dishes and flavours that one can never imagine. The other reason of people trying out new food and ingredients is easy global exposure. Travelling has become more convenient and affordable.
Every cuisine finds its way to impress food lovers but here’s a food lover Pragnya Iyengar who gives a detailed explanation about the cuisines that sees the best response. She elaborates, “Bengaluru has always been a place where people are open to try out new things in terms of both food and beverage. The new trend that is being seen in the industry is healthy and small eats. With reference to newly introduced cuisines in the city, Burmese, Filipino and a lot of Korean joints have surfaced. The other food genre that is making the rounds on social media is kebabs and tawook which is Turkish food.”
Speaking about cuisines that are similar to ours, Chef and consultant at One Sprig Hospitality Consultants Pritam Das opines, “Though I believe that every cuisine is very diverse because of ingredients and geographical positions, there are lot of similarities of different cuisine with Indian food. To begin with Mexican, it uses of lot of similar ingredients and cooking technique. The MALAYSIAN cuisine uses tamarind and chilli predominantly. To give a few examples the dish IKAN ASAM PEDAS is very similar to Kolkata’s macher tak. The ROTI CANAI is exactly like Kerala porotha. The SATAY is like Indian kebabs and LAKSHA is inspired from thukpa. And, finally not forgetting the Moroccan and Lebanese cuisine where sheekh kebabs and lot of charcoal grille kebabs including flat breads are cooked in clay ovens.”
Sharing his opinion on what an international cuisine needs to thrive in a city like Bengaluru Pritam says, “Since people are travelling widely authenticity both in terms of ingredients and technique is a must. And of course, word of mouth plays a big role in the survival of a restaurant. Hence consistency is the key.”
