1. Hello! We are three undergraduate students @FLAMEUniversity. Our project aims to chronicle Indian history through the lens of food and gastronomy in India's communities.
Welcome to Indian Community Cookbooks! bit.ly/cooksKAM #DHARTITwitterConf
Welcome to Indian Community Cookbooks! bit.ly/cooksKAM #DHARTITwitterConf
@FLAMEUniversity 2. Our thought process began with solely the Tuluva community cookbooks of Karnataka which went on to expand to include cuisines across India. We decided that archives and timelines would be suitable media to document this. #DHARTITwitterConf
@FLAMEUniversity 3. @ArjunAppadurai explored the homogenization of Indian cuisine, which sparked interests in unraveling the processes of how community cuisines are being merged or forgotten, to which we arrive at our national cuisine. Link to his paper: bit.ly/Appadurai #DHARTITwitterConf
@FLAMEUniversity @ArjunAppadurai 4. From thereon, we chose to track the histories of multiple small cuisines in India to see whether and when their flavors or styles merged or took from each other to form the national cuisine we know of today. #DHARTITwitterConf
@FLAMEUniversity @ArjunAppadurai 5. Whilst conducting research, we realized the importance of cookbooks as any other document in preserving cultural heritage and being reliable accounts of history. #DHARTITwitterConf
@FLAMEUniversity @ArjunAppadurai 6. We began with crowd-sourcing archives, one of the earliest digitized cookbooks such as the 'Pakrajeshwar' and through sources such as friends and family. If you wish to contribute to expanding our digital archive, do get in touch! bit.ly/30AESWb #DHARTITwitterConf
@FLAMEUniversity @ArjunAppadurai 7. Our website includes transcribed and translated excerpts of oral, handwritten and printed regional family recipes ranging across multiple languages. We created timelines using @knightlab to record cookbook publications across time in various cuisines. #DHARTITwitterConf
@FLAMEUniversity @ArjunAppadurai @knightlab 8. So far for timelines, we have covered Bengali, Tamilian, Anglo-Indian and Contemporary cookbooks [2000 onwards]. For example bit.ly/2sD4q8l. In archives, we have covered Konkani, Bohri Alvi, U.P., Indo-Pakistani, Mangalorean and Marathi cuisines. #DHARTITwitterConf
@FLAMEUniversity @ArjunAppadurai @knightlab 9. Key inferences: North East cookbooks are overgeneralizing, which under-represent individual communities, subsequently their identity. Timelines, like of the Bengali cuisine record changing native taste palettes allowing us to track external influences. #DHARTITwitterConf
@FLAMEUniversity @ArjunAppadurai @knightlab 10. Currently, we are corroborating secondary research and creating visually appealing, concise, and accessible timelines for the various cuisines of the country. #DHARTITwitterConf
@FLAMEUniversity @ArjunAppadurai @knightlab 11. We are also looking into spatial-mapping tools which allow us to map a trajectory of sorts, linking the publications of the cookbooks with the Indian diaspora, across the centuries as Google Fusion Tables have been discontinued. We are open to suggestions! #DHARTITwitterConf
@FLAMEUniversity @ArjunAppadurai @knightlab 12. We want this project to include more cuisines and acknowledge cultural, socio-economic and political influences through time. We are applying for research grants to increase our access and exposure to lesser-known community cuisines. #DHARTITwitterConf
@FLAMEUniversity @ArjunAppadurai @knightlab 13. Eventually we hope this project becomes a viable resource for others, and an agent in encouraging further ventures into the field of Indian community cookbooks. We want our website to get its own domain url, and be an independent, open-access source. #DHARTITwitterConf
@FLAMEUniversity @ArjunAppadurai @knightlab 14. Thank you very much for your attention! We'd love to answer any questions you may have. #DHARTITwitterConf
