* All in the family: The exotic no longer exists. What works for one, may not work for the other. ‘Naans’ blend with mid-Eastern cuisine as much as with an Italian pasta e Flagioli, and with a little imagination, wine makers and marketers are matching bottles of Sauvignon Blanc to butter chicken.
* Health: Seven-course meals are fine if you can actually make them, but not so very palatable when you are a 28-year-old obsessed with your weight and counting every calorie of wine, fat, cheese, starches, carbohydrates and proteins that you’re loading into your mouth. The chefs of yore probably never had to contend with that. Which is honestly why the grand repasts have now been delegated to the festive season, worldwide.
With a greater incidence of heart diseases, cancer, stress-related illnesses and obesity stemming from convenience foods, the leaning is now towards anything that can lob a calorie off what your eating — whether that’s fat-free yoghurt or chocolate mousse, or a salad.
* Convenience: Do I spend more than an hour cooking it? Will I spend more than an hour eating it? Will I spend more than an hour working it off? ... These are the three basic questions a hungry woman will ask herself now. Hand-held meals like wraps and burgers, easy take-away snacks like salad bowls, a packable pasta salad and a sandwich are gaining popularity over the spillable, take-care-while-packing mode of eating.
* Parts of the whole: People who avoid cooking tend to assuage their consciences by skimping on part of the meal rather than the whole. Hence, to avoid ordering in a whole cooked meal or buy a pre-processed and packed macaroni and cheese — the diner would rather boil the pasta and buy the sauce, or make a curry — but with readymade tomato puree, ground ginger garlic paste and dessicated coconut.
SHIFT THE PLATE * Joint families don’t rule the roost!: Large, densely-populated families mean more tastes to cater to, some very orthodox ones and large, traditional meals to be cooked. Smaller families are more likely to try out new foods. Add to that a reduced patrolling of timing, food preparation techniques, serving styles, a decrease in the pressure of doing daily chores, and cooking becomes the fun fiesta it is today!
* Barriers and isms: More and more people are crossing those invisible lines. There are Brahmins who eat everything, including a ‘bifteck frites avec pomme de terres’, and Goans who won’t touch that sorpotel (yes, they do exist!). The hesitation to conform makes it easy for food to be seen as a vehicle of rebellion.
* Lack of time: Or make that the unwillingness to devote that extra time to the process of cooking. Why bother with breakfast when you can squeeze in a round of jogging, swimming or badminton at the club? Why slave over that perfect dinner when you can watch a movie, shake a leg at a pub or fit in that thriller before you snooze? People have found better things to do with their time, or rather, believe their time is better spent on themselves or their family members and friends, than on cooking.
* Availability of variety: If you’re a Bengali in Mumbai, you probably buy your supply of fresh river fish from Bishu in Worli. Broccoli hangs with potatoes at the neighbourhood ‘subjiwallah’ in Madras, Spanish chorizos are aplenty at Delhi’s Jorbagh market and fresh Pak Choi is for the asking at Calcutta’s China Town. As for cheeses, try Pune’s ABC Farms’ produce for everything from Monterey Jack to Mozzarella, and to sample a Swiss Fondue, head for Out Of The Blue in Mumbai.
* All year round: At first you only got fresh orange juice during the orange season. Now, any Udipi restaurant will serve it to you the year round, and not necessarily out of a tin. It’s just that fruit and vegetables that were once seasonal are now easily available thanks to cold storage and global connectivity.
* Global citizenship: We’ve said it before. If you’ve travelled the world more than once, your taste buds have gone for a toss — you will never be just content with your ‘daal chawal’ and ‘kheema’, no matter how much you may revel in it. You no longer belong, you are doomed to change and drag your growling tummy and salivating taste buds with you.
Welcome, to the world of the foodie.
Photograph: Farokh Jassawala Photograph courtesy Red Hot Cafe, Mumbai Photograph courtesy Opium Den, The Oberoi Hotel, Mumbai
The Foodie File