Does Indian/Pakistani food really exist? or is it more regional cuisines?
Born to a German mother and an Indian father who met while college students in Madison, Wis., Rahul Akerkar grew up spending winters in Mumbai and summers in Manhattan.
Though he was on track for a biochemical engineering career after earning a master’s degree from Columbia University, his summer jobs in New York kitchens sparked his interest in a culinary career.
When he struck out on his own, however, it was in India, where in 1999 he opened Indigo, a Mumbai eatery serving Mediterranean-influenced food, followed by its casual offshoot Indigo Deli. Two years ago, Mr. Akerkar and his wife and business partner Malini opened Tote on the Turf, a sprawling, 25,000-square-foot restaurant in the former site of the Royal Western Turf Club. Last year he tinkered with his formula again, converting Tote into Neel, a new restaurant serving Indian food.
Mr. Akerkar, 52 years old, spoke with The Wall Street Journal about culinary traditions, the nonexistence of “Indian” food and why he doesn’t want to be Wolfgang Puck.
**As an Indian-born chef who opened your first restaurant in India, why did you avoid cooking Indian food when you started? **
There is no such thing as “Indian food.” It’s a fabrication of the West. Each state has its own regional cuisines: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bengal. And then even the states have subcategories — there’s coastal Maharashtrian, inland Maharashtrian, Muslim-influenced. Sadly, what most of the world knows today as Indian food is *******ized, trivialized — tandoori chicken, black dal, everything deep-fried. And it’s just a shame that many Americans will only experience it in some buffet line in New Jersey.
Plus everything is overspiced and overcooked. I understand the history of why. In a hot country with poor refrigeration and sanitation, it was a safeguard against spoilage and contamination — but come on, we have refrigeration now. Plus, to me, cuisine should be allowed to change and grow. I don’t see that being done successfully in India
