Indian Chefs as Food Writers

[shagun]

This is a general question to the readers to think and discuss why there aren't many Indian chefs pursuing the field of food writing whereas international chefs are releasing best sellers almost every year.

Also if any change can be brought about by understanding the factors which are acting as barriers and obstacles for Indian chefs to pursue food writing alongside their primary careers. when we think of Indian chefs who have released books, there may be many, but only few come to mind, such as, Sanjeev Kapoor, Vikas Khanna, Madhur Jaffery etc. Again what I wish to know is that why is the awareness level low in India as far as our own chefs are concerned?

with such advancements happening in this field, why is it that many chefs find food writing a challenge?

[Toliver]

Two eGullet members have both gone to great success in food writing and in cooking:

Monica Bhide: http://www.monicabhide.com/

and

Michelin starred chef and author Suvir Saran: http://suvir.com/

Does India have celebrity chefs like America & Europe have? There's a business model here where part of the celebrity chef cycle is to write books/cookbooks, create your own line of cookware, etc. Perhaps that business model doesn't exist in India. I don't know the culture, which, as a customer/reader could be part of the problem, too.

I will be interested in hearing what others think.

[nickrey]

How about Atul Kochhar, Tarla Dalal, Sumana Ray, Pushpesh Pant & Anjum Anand?

[shagun]

Atul Kochhar is based in Britain. So is Anjum Ahmed. Pushpesh pant is a Food critic and not a chef by profession. Tarla Dalal i'l take. And that is what my point is-Indian chefs who are based abroad, do well when it comes to handling a career of writing books, not one but many, with their profession as chefs. whereas Chefs who are based in India itself are having to face obstacles to do the same.

What could these obstacles and/or challenges possibly be?

[nickrey]

Perhaps it's cultural, what is it about the food culture that is different in India? Is it that the chefs are deemed less important than the food? It is really only in the past thirty years that chefs have gained priority in western cuisine; more so since the advent of food channels. Is there an equivalent of TV-based Indian food celebrities to that which is seen in the West?

[carl_spencer]

You also have Sanjeev Kapoor who has a variety of properties to his name. He has books and a TV series as well which ran in the 90s in India, don't know if it is still running now. I have also seen articles in magazines by him.