Tabla and New Indian Cooking In America

[Suzi Edwards]

across the board however dress-codes are pretty much non-existent and only a few places are stuffy (usually the restaurants at the snobby oberoi).

or at the leela palace in bangalore :-)

we call it fat cat ferengi lunch there. i saw no other westerners in bangalore apart from my two colleagues for a week. i went to the leela and discovered where they were all hiding out.

now if they ventured to the real mtr they'd have a real treat, rather than eating attmpted facimiles of western foods of a sunday.

[mongo_jones]

across the board however dress-codes are pretty much non-existent and only a few places are stuffy (usually the restaurants at the snobby oberoi).

or at the leela palace in bangalore :-)

yes, doubly ironic given how casual the rest of bangalore is.

i have to say though in defense of those westerners hiding out at the "continental" restaurants at the 5-stars (and i might just be echoing vikram here) that if you're in india on a long trip, no matter how much you love indian food there probably comes a point when you want something familiar. my wife took a bottle of kim-chi with her on our trip this winter for just this reason. some years ago i almost went insane without indian food on an extended trip through eastern-europe. a couple of hours before boarding our return flight from amsterdam i broke down and dragged my companions to an indian restaurant--i might have been the first indian the owner had seen in a while because he sat down with us and told us his highly baroque life-story (which involved banking scandals in hong kong). the menu and food strangely, or not so strangely, were identical to what you get at the average north-indian restaurant in the u.s. but that was one lunch when i happily scarfed down helpings of butter chicken and creamy saag paneer.

[mongo_jones]

something else to think about as we consider what "new indian" might mean in a more global sense is this (i've written about this on the indian forum as well and again i am probably echoing vikram here--he is smarter and has eaten more than me):

one of the most exciting things that's happening in india as the economy liberalizes and middle-class people begin to start leaving their home regions for work in the major metros across the country is that the different indian culinary traditions are beginning to encounter each other in a fuller way than they have before. along with other social forces that i've written about elsewhere on egullet this is leading to the breaking the monopoly of the north-indian "moghlai" restaurant as the kind of place you go out to to eat indian food in india. (another symptom of this change is the explosion in regional cookbook publication in india--penguin has an excellent regional series and they make most of their money from cookbook sales--arundhati roy notwithstanding.)

within india therefore a welcome form that "new indian" cuisine may take is the presence of foods from different parts of india on the same menu in a structured, articulated way that currently doesn't exist (not to my knowledge, at least--that is to say outside of special food festival menus at the 5-stars). this would be "fusion" in a very indian sense and indeed vibrant and "new". this again is something gourmets not familiar with the contours of indian regional cuisines may not be able to recognize. but i think they should make rhetorical space for these kinds of articulations alongside their own.

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edit to add link to vikram's excellent article on swati snacks in bombay: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=40612

Edited June 9, 2004 by mongo_jones (log)

[Pumpkin Lover]

within india therefore a welcome form that "new indian" cuisine may take is the presence of foods from different parts of india on the same menu in a structured, articulated way that currently doesn't exist (not to my knowledge, at least--that is to say outside of special food festival menus at the 5-stars). this would be "fusion" in a very indian sense and indeed vibrant and "new". this again is something gourmets not familiar with the contours of indian regional cuisines may not be able to recognize. but i think they should make rhetorical space for these kinds of articulations alongside their own.

I kinda sorta hit upon these points when I posted about Amma, but it's interesting to hear from you, Mongo, that presenting different regional cuisines within India itself would be considered "new." I wrote about how that kind of presentation would be "new" in America, and it was, and that's why Amma's presence was and is so important for Indian cuisine in America. But, it's interesting to see that presenting all types of regional cuisines within India itself would be innovative as well. It's something I didn't consider.

Do you guys think that some Indians in India, or out of it, who choose to think about this topic would be bothered by the word "new" if they were presented with a cuisine that contained elements of their own region's cooking? Would a Madrasi get up in arms if s/he ordered an idly with Manchurian cauliflower and someone called it "New Indian"? I wonder what the reaction would be like.

[mikeyrad]

This is all semantics though. Its interpretive Indian food cooked in the US, with ingredients native to this country. So its appropriate to call it New Indian Cooking -- In America

Quite right! The actual name isn't really important. It's just enables us to refer to it as something other than traditional Indian cuisine. As long as there is consensus that the term (your name here), refers to the type of cuisine that is served at Tabla and not the cuisine served at the Jackson Diner it can be called just about anything. My guess is that sub-genres will also be invented as (your name here) evolves.

Edited June 14, 2004 by mikeyrad (log)

[DutchMuse]

What a great thread! I just discovered this thread, and very much enjoyed reading it.

I have enjoyed Tabla, but love even more the Bread Bar downstairs. One of my favorite things in the summer is to sit outside and order various items, sort of exploring the chef's morsels. The last two times I've taken a Turley (minor note--the initial post calls it 'Helen Turley'...it's actually owned/made by Larry Turley, Helen's brother). The staff have told me that Larry Turley's daughter is working there this summer. :-)

I agree that Tabla and Bread Bar are at the cutting edge of what we're calling 'New Indian' in America. I also note that Floyd has participated in bringing several cutting-edge chefs from India who are doing new things there, to the Beard House for dinners. Bravo!

[Andy Lynes]

I will bow out for now and report back with the view from London's Indian chefs when and if I am able to do so.

Last week I had an informal chat with Vineet Bhatia who is arguably London's leading Indian chef (you can read a round up of the recent reviews of his new restaurant here). I mentioned this thread to him and asked for his views.

He is of the opinion that London is 10 years ahead of New York when it comes to Indian food. He is friends with Floyd at Tabla and has sent at least one chef there to complete a stages. He believes food there to be American and not Indian, due to the way food is prepared and the way spices are used. He did not elaborate on this point, and as it was a laid back, informal discussion, I did not feel that I wanted to push him for details. He also pointed out that as far as he was aware, there are very few Indian chefs working at Tabla.

As to is own food, he is very clear that he is not cooking fusion, but is producing "modern, elevated Indian cuisine".