"There's seafood in Indian cuisine?"
Yes and lots of it
Seafood was the main feature in quite a few of my pop-up dinners. People were often surprised to know that fish is an integral part of Indian cuisine.
What other myths exist about Indian cuisine outside of India? I reveal the other four in this video.
It's for that very reason that I chose to include seafood in almost every pop-up dinner menu.
I wanted to showcase the varied techniques used to cook seafood and the multitude of flavor profiles it could take on based on the region the dish comes from.
If you walk into your neighborhood Indian restaurant, chances are you won't see seafood on the menu.
I'm not sure what the reason is. After all, India is surrounded by the ocean on three of its four sides.
Unless you're in the landlocked parts of India, seafood is a staple.
India also has a dense network of some of the largest rivers in the world. These rivers and their tributaries are a rich source of seafood and livelihood for people in the surrounding areas.
My grandfather would go to the fish market in Calcutta everyday to source fresh seafood for lunch at the Dutt House. Unless it was Sunday, seafood was on the menu for lunch.
It's funny how you the things you crave in adulthood are the very things that you despised as a child.
Prawns were the seafood I enjoyed as a kid and I remember my disappointment if there was any other form of seafood for lunch.
Bengalis can eat fish anytime of day.
The gap between lunch and dinner is the perfect spot for another form of seafood indulgence.
This time, it's fried. Who doesn't like fried anything? Fried fish, yes please! In Calcutta, it's usually breaded, deep fried and served with a tangy mustard sauce. It's the perfect combination!
Food is an adventure, an exploration, an easy way to understand the people and cultures far away from you.
I seek comfort in my food as much as the next person but I also keep my senses open to new flavors, techniques and ideas that I may not have experienced before.
Tony Bourdain sums it up perfectly.
"I've long believed that good food, good eating, is all about risk. Whether we're talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime 'associates,' food, for me, has always been an adventure"