Maya Kaimal

[Monica Bhide]

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/064/food...la_India+.shtml

[indiagirl]

thanks, monica. i've been wondering too.

what do you all think about the concept of bottled indian sauces?

i have to say that i don't like the idea too much

[Suvir Saran]

Maya is in the US and indulging in food...

And the article linked above leaves all our querries answered.

As for the bottled sauces, I guess it is a logical step. Most all food writers have done that... why should Maya not do what seems like a perfect next step.

She is gracious, charming, clever and talented.

I hope we will see more of her in the near future.

[indiagirl]

the question about bottled sauces was not meant to be directed Kaimal-Macmillan particularly,

just wondering about people's opinion on the idea in general -

do the sauces have any chance of tasting as good?

what will preservatives do to the taste?

is there something specific about indian sauces that makes them more or less conducive to preservatives?

and so on

[azlee]

I hope we will see more of her in the near future.

She's recently been featured doing a cooking demonstration on From Martha Stewart's Kitchen

[A Scottish Chef]

do the sauces have any chance of tasting as good?

It's impossible to think that any bottled sauce could taste as good as fresh made (provided the frsh made was in fact made well), but that needn't mean they cannot be good. Or, indeed, very good.

If it serves to promote Indian food and foster greater interest in the cuisine amongst those who don't/wont/can't have the time to make it from scratch, then it's surely a good thing.

[prasad2]

Thanks Monica for sharing the Boston Globe article, I think it's so true about regional cuisines not being explored. It is very real and a nice article. Not only Kerala but Andhra and TamilNadu should be expolred as well.

Bottling sauces is a good idea, provided quality is kept up to par and bottled well and by a known packer and should be marketed well.

There was an article in New York Times, Business head lines a few months ago about MTR of Bangalore after being successful in India and UK is stepping into US in major markets and JP Morgan as a partner.

MTR is probably a 70 year old company, they have eventually succeeded and are on top.

So, exploring on bottling and enhancing the market for Indians and the locals is a good idea.

P2

[indiagirl]

From the "exploring and exposing Indian cuisine" aspect I agree. And MTR masalas are phenomenal.

I think I need to add a little perspective to my questions re. sauces.

Here is where I was coming from - Patak's, whose pickles, I think are quite well made and who I respect as a purveyor of Indian food of high quality, started selling bottled Indian sauces.

I immediately bought a couple to try out of sheer curiosity and found them well flavored but rather gelatinous - if memory serves one was a coconut base and the other a classic tomato-onion base.

Since I consider Patak's a really good brand, I assumed the texture was an inescapable side effect of preservatives.

And that led me to wondering what everyone else thinks and also I thought eGullet would be the place to find out if my assumption was accurate.

So?