We’ve been through a series of extreme circumstances from March because of numerous lockdowns and how the pandemic managed to take over this year and our lives with no end in sight. As a chef stuck at home, it’s been emotional and overwhelming to experience. Long before the world shut down and the pandemic even arrived in India, I had the pleasure of reading a piece in The New Yorker by artist Krish Raghav about a cuisine that had come about in China due to lockdowns called “Quarantine Cuisine” and was fascinated. It was a curious means to find positivity and connection in an increasingly isolating situation while being creative but resourceful. I was sure things in India wouldn’t escalate as much and approached the subject as an alien concept I’d probably never find an opportunity to truly understand. Little did I know, months later, I’d find myself stuck at home with compromised immunity, a changed palate and new foods that I associate with security during tough times.
Bread – Years ago, we were asked about our favourite food in Nutrition 101 and had flamboyant answers. In the end, our professor looked around and thoughtfully said, "Well for me, it’s a good, reliable loaf of bread." Although at the time, most of us couldn’t comprehend the answer, I found myself returning to that instance and bread doughs often during the lockdown. It’s helped in more ways than I’d have imagined. Doughs took time and required patience, they allowed me to focus and take my frustrations out on them and was ultimately always better for it. At the end of the long wait, bread allowed me to offer my family food and became a source of joy during difficult times. Even as things got better, I still find myself returning to bread making often.
Eggs – Asma Khan sent her team eggs when shelves were empty across the UK, and it’s genius. I turned to eggs too. They are versatile, nutritionally dense, were readily available and required minimal effort to become the perfect meal. Although there were plenty of poached eggs with runny yolks, many of which were shamelessly Instagrammed, the recipe that stood out was 2-ingredient pancakes I made for breakfast often. Two eggs and a mashed banana mixed together formed the “batter” and additions could be made to turn it savoury or sweet. It was healthy, took ten minutes and never failed to satisfy. It wasn’t pancakes I’d ever serve at a brunch, but it was a little piece of heaven when things were otherwise terrible.
Sooji/Semolina – My mother and partner are the most prominent advocates of sooji I know. Both love their halwa and swear by the virtues of the ingredient. I’ve resisted all my life, but with few sweet options available in the first few months, halwa made with water and sugar became a staple at home. Over the few months, I converted to the semolina way of life without even understanding, even making a savoury halwa with a tadka of poppy seeds and curry leaves as an occasional snack. Their triumphant smiles aside, I didn’t admit this transition of taste to myself till I baked my birthday cake this year in August. It was on a lockdown day, and I chose Ottolenghi’s semolina and pistachio cake with crystallised rose petals and a lemon cream instead of the usual layered and intricate stuff. It was when I took the first bite and moaned in pleasure and a sense of comfort that I realised how much of an impact, semolina had made on me, and it brought about moments of quiet reflection about how fundamentally I’d been changed by this year.
Potatoes – Few ingredients hold as much power as potatoes do. During the lockdown, I was usually prepping vegetables thrice a day for meals, doing dishes and working on my dissertation. Even in a nuclear setting, the work seemed endless. On some days when things got too hectic, I’d keep the potato skins aside to be fried so we could have two dishes while reducing waste. It was a simple commonplace idea, but it brought about a freshness to the usual rotation. On weekends, I’d make French fries and chips from scratch. But the one real highlight from the time still remains the dauphinoise I ended up serving my family that one otherwise dreary night.
Bananas – While usually overlooked, these became among the most popular ingredients used in quarantine cuisine globally and my favourite in the kitchen. When I wasn’t making banana bread, I was using it frozen to make no-churn ice cream, even using the peels in my smoothies sometimes. A lover of all things fried, I also dabbled in the occasional Pazham Pori and crisps. My favourite, however, is banana and chocolate sandwiches which I’d treat myself to during my periods. It required little effort and was ethereal. I’ve written an entire article on how pandemic and crisis friendly bananas are on wineandwasabi.com, do check the post out.
I cook professionally and seldom cook at home unless it’s for pleasure or to test recipes. The lockdown reintroduced cooking to me in a manner that quickly became tedious and brought about a sense of resentment to the idea of the constant labour women are forced to provide at home, something my privilege had so far prevented me from experiencing. After a while, it became ridiculous to see what became of the idea of “quarantine cooking” I had read about as I watched celebrities and influencers post their quarantine food which was anything but what cooking in times of scarcity entailed. Bitterness towards the situation we were forced into aside, love for the act of cooking hasn’t changed. Rather, in many ways, it has evolved. From where I stand today, I’ve seen Maggi turn people into the most creative of cooks, I’ve witnessed colleagues forced to close their businesses, and I have watched home chefs find purpose. It’s been a pleasure seeing young people turn to cooking to heal. Personally, returning to basic inexpensive ingredients has been surprisingly calming. I’d say having a terrace garden with herbs and spices to fall back on, and an obsessive interest in fermentation and pickling also helped in the most unexpected ways. If there’s one thing I’ve observed, it’s that gardening is an indispensable practice in these unprecedented times.
Sulagna Maitra is a chef and the co-founder of Wine and Wasabi ™, a Kolkata based company that organises themed pop-up dinners. She holds a diploma in Patisserie and another in Nutrition, Gastronomy and Food Trends from Le Cordon Bleu, London, and is currently a post-grad media student at VBU. When she isn’t worrying about the planet, playing with her pet Cherry or watching films, she’s probably reading on and about food or cooking. Find out more about her work and her thoughts on food and eating on https://wineandwasabi.com/.
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