Bad Table Manners: Recent Episodes
Whetstone Radio Collective
Bad Table Manners pushes the boundaries of food storytelling in South Asia. Despite a universal love of delicious food, South Asian communities’ narratives and food practices maintain social hierarchies, caste inequalities, and racial and gender discrimination. In spanning both “high” and “low” food cultures, this podcast deconstructs monolithic notions of South Asian or “Indian” food by diving into micro contexts of households, restaurants, neighborhoods, streets and communities. It also reveals how hyper-regional and local culinary expressions are shaped by global gastronomic histories and trends.
Hosted by Delhi-based anthropologist Meher Varma, Bad Table Manners is narrator-driven, ethnographic, and playful. It will take you to the seaside, through bustling markets, and the intimacy of the kitchen table in private homes. It reminds you that when good table manners are tossed, great conversation begins.
Hello Bad Table Manners listeners. I’d love to introduce you an episode of Immigrantly. Immigrantly is a weekly podcast that dares to deconstruct immigrant status. Hosted by social entrepreneur & activist Saadia Khan.
On this episode we hear from Nik Sharma, a renowned food writer, recipe developer, and photographer with Bombay roots and is currently in LA. His entry into the food scene was his hit blog, A Brown Table. Since then, he has published two bestselling cookbooks, including The Flavor Equation. Nik writes for San Francisco Chronicle, Serious Eats, and Food and Wine Magazine as their food columnist. He does and cooks it all.
Saadia Khan sits down with Nik to talk about preserving history through cooking, how various dishes evolve & the commonalities between molecular biology and the cilantro we use to garnish the rice.
In September 2020, the government of India approved a series of agricultural acts, often referred to as the “Farm Bills.” What was proposed threatened to change the state of agriculture in India forever, and thus, inspired a long farmers' protest that is only just coming to a conclusion (thanks to a recent announcement that confirms the laws have been repealed). This episode tracks my journey to Tikri border — located on the capital’s suburbs — where thousands of farmers lived as they protested the effects of neoliberalism on Indigenous agricultural systems. Cooking with the community and feeding everyone who came to the site (including the police!) was one crucial way in which solidarity was cemented. My guide, and the guest of this show, is the inspirational activist Navkrian Natt, who along with thousands of farmers, resisted injustice with all her heart.
Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.
Thanks to the cool-ification of Indian food, traditional ingredients from the subcontinent, like turmeric and ghee, are now repackaged and resold in Western and Westernized markets as if they were “new” discoveries. Cleaned up, minimalistic design labels are often employed to give the familiar and unfamiliar look, and conceal what one can argue is a recolonization of the Global South by the Global North. The U.S.-based academic Rumya Putcha tells us why this hipster Indian food is problematic, while Vidya Balachander, current South Asia editor at Whetstone, helps us unpack the idea of the global supermarket.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Min 1:40: Meet Rumya Putcha
- Min 2:08: Meet Vidya Balachander
- Min 3:29: The root of the frustration
- Min 7:24: Logic of “cool-ification”
- Min 9:42: Marketing Otherness
- Min 11:00: Wellness as a form of travel
- Min 15:56: Displays of diversity in supermarkets
- Min 18:53: Aesthetics of Otherness
- Min 21:47: Going beyond outrage
- Min 25:38: Question of authenticity
- Min 28:03: No easy answer
Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.
Guests: Rumya Putcha (@snailmobile821), Vidya Balachander (@vidya83)
Beginning with a brief history of Tibetans in exile, this episode explores how food can create imaginary homelands, even if it means that authenticity itself needs to be invented and reinvented. Three Tibetans in the diaspora, Jamyang Phuntsok, Tencho Gyatso, and Nima Dorjee, are the guests on this episode. Through conversations that range from personal histories to current food interests, we will talk about gastronomy and memory, tsampa as a potential political tool, and what role food can play for a community in exile.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Min 0:00: The idea of home as connected to food
- Min 1:42: Meet Jamyang Phuntsok
- Min 1:58: Meet Tencho Gyatso
- Min 2:40: Meet Nima Dorjee
- Min 4:34: An overview of Tibetan food in India
- Min 6:30: The popularization and adaptation of momos
- Min 10:09: Politics of tsampa
- Min 16:32: On authenticity in the context of exile
- Min 21:05: Chinese influence in Tibetan food
- Min 23:01: Food and solidarity
Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.
Guests: Jamyang Phuntsok (@jongtrukh), Tencho Gyatso (@simplytibetan), Nima Dorjee
Ethereal Relaxation by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/8719-ethereal-relaxation
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
In 1947, the British finally left India after 300 years of colonial rule. They created many arbitrary borders as they left, the most prominent of which was the line that was to separate India from Pakistan. The aftermath of this divide resulted in the greatest migration in human history, as millions made their way across hundreds of miles in the hope of creating new homes. The impact of this critical event is mirrored in what has become known as Delhi’s food culture, both at home and abroad. The well-known food historian Anoothi Vishal reminds us how partition lives on in India’s capital, while Jonathan Nunn, editor of the shape-shifting newsletter Vittles, shows us how the event created ripples in the imperial city of London. Partition transformed “Indian food,” in both colony and empire, and still shows its effects in new Indian restaurants today.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Min 0:00: What is Partition?
- Min 1:35: Meet Meher’s grand-aunt, Jeeti Nani
- Min 2:30: Meet Anoothi Vishal
- Min 3:42: From Mughlai cuisine to a dominant Punjabi cuisine
- Min 8:31: Jeeti Nani’s account of dining practices pre- and post-Partition
- Min 12:17: Collapse of a feudal order
- Min 15:14: Meet Jonathan Nunn
- Min 16:25: Ripple effects of Partition in London
- Min 21:55: Complexities behind the modern British-Raj aesthetic
- Min 27:19: Regional cuisines in London beyond Punjabi tandoori food
Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.
Guests: Anoothi Vishal (@anoothivishal), Jonathan Nunn (@jonathandnunn)
The Mid-Day Meal feeds millions of schoolgoing Indian children daily, and has widely been considered one of India’s most successful welfare programs. Two economists who have been instrumental in its success, Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera, will uncover the history of this program, but also remind us that because what's on plates is always political, the future of welfare too, is uncertain. A focused discussion on the contentious introduction of the egg in the meal will, in particular, reveal how sometimes, unfortunately, political interests can trump the basic human right to food and nutrition.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Min 0:00: What is the Mid-Day Meal?
- Min 1:50: Meet Jean Drèze
- Min 2:14: Benefits of the Mid-Day Meal
- Min 6:04: Criticisms of the program
- Min 7:00: Meet Reetika Khera
- Min 10:31: A strong case for the inclusion of eggs
- Min 12:51: The politics behind the egg
- Min 17:52: Why eggs over other sources of protein
- Min 24:11: Lobbying attempts by the biscuit industry
- Min 26:48: What Mid-Day Meal looks like today
Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.
Guests: Jean Drèze, Reetika Khera
This episode flips the script on caste and food by celebrating and exploring the food practices of caste oppressed communities. Is there such a thing as “Dalit cuisine?” Do Dalit chefs and food enthusiasts accept this term? What are Dalit recipes, and how have they been archived and reproduced? Can food be a site of caste abolitionism? The two guests on this episode – Vinay Kumar and Rajyashri Goody – who self-identify as Dalit, offer their own personal reflections on food and food politics.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Min 0:48: The caste system in India
- Min 3:38: Meet Vinay Kumar
- Min 4:10: Meet Rajyashri Goody
- Min 7:37: Caste and food
- Min 10:14: Is there such thing as standalone Dalit cuisine?
- Min 12:32: Access to food (and lack thereof)
- Min 14:49: Where there are no butchers, there are cinnamon buns
- Min 19:56: When elite words are applied to Dalit food
- Min 25:49: The complexities behind the idea of a Dalit cookbook
- Min 27:43: Limitations to a “recipe”
- Min 31:19: Balancing moments of joy and struggle
- Min 35:15: Food as protest and resistance
Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.
Guests: Vinay Kumar (@thevinaygreen), Rajyashri Goody (@rajgoody)
This episode presents a micro-history of contemporary Indian kitchen design, as told by Manju Sara Rajan, the editor of a prominent design magazine, and Madhav Raman, an award-winning architect in New Delhi. We look at what lies behind the urban, aspirational dream of two kitchens — one visible and one concealed — which has roots in a historical wet and dry kitchen binary. We also look at what interventions open and modular kitchens have made in this history, and what it means for gender and caste politics that still lie at the heart of Indian kitchen design. How do urban Indians negotiate the waves of aromas and the inevitability of oil splatters that come with making Indian food with their desire to showcase their Scandinavian-inspired kitchens in India all at once? We talk about how in urban India, the aspiration is really to have it all.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Min 1:25: Meet Manju Sara Rajan
- Min 1:58: Concept of the wet and dry kitchen
- Min 4:30: Meet Madhav Raman
- Min 4:57: Economic liberalization in India
- Min 9:50: How the new apartment kitchen transformed the way people cooked
- Min 13:53: The front-of-house and back-of-house split
- Min 17:25: The fridge’s place in the Indian kitchen
- Min 23:06: Vastu-compliance
- Min 25:04: Future of Indian kitchen design
- Min 26:01: Gendered labor divide
- Min 30:07: How COVID affected Indian kitchens
Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.
Guests: Manju Sara Rajan (@manjusararajan), Madhav Raman (@anagramarchitects)
Eating Capital focuses on the restaurant business in Delhi and Mumbai, an industry that, according to most experts, has irrevocably transformed due to the COVID pandemic. Cloud kitchens have exploded, and delivery, rather than dining in, has become the name of the game. In this episode I speak with an established restaurant consultant, Samir Kuckreja, and two restaurant owners, Kainaz Messman and Jiten Suchede, to ask what it really takes for independent cafes and coffee shops to tick in today’s highly competitive market. What are the values that restaurant owners must weigh in order to survive? These conversations are full of sharp insights for anyone who has ever thought about opening a cafe, and the news is not all discouraging.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Min 3:22: Meet Samir Kuckreja
- Min 3:33: The impact of the pandemic on India’s restaurants
- Min 4:50: Meet Kainaz Messman
- Min 6:00: Adapting one’s business to survive
- Min 9:46: Cloud kitchens and delivery models
- Min 15:20: Meet Jiten Suchede
- Min 17:11: Jiten’s tips for running a restaurant
- Min 20:56: Challenges of working in hospitality as a woman
Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.
Guests: Samir Kuckreja, Kainaz Messman (@theobromapatisserie), Jiten Suchede (@jugmugthela)
To speak about Indian mangoes may be cliché, but because Indians never seem to tire of the subject, there’s always some juice. London-based writer, Nikesh Shukla, will humorously tell us how to devour one correctly – a skill most South Asians seem to inherently possess – while halfway justifying why our obsession for the fruit can and should live on. A conversation with food historian Vikram Doctor follows as he talks about the colonial legacy that underpins this obsession, and the parochialism that most Indians adopt as they cultivate their specific mango fetishes. I conclude in a kitchen with a Delhi-based pastry chef, Ruchi Vaish, who turns herself in as a Mango Obsessive. For her, mango season is the very best.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Min 00:31: Meet Nikesh Shukla
- Min 3:27: How to eat a mango properly
- Min 4:30: Mango in literature
- Min 7:55: Meet Ruchi Vaish
- Min 8:02: Ways to cook and bake with mango
- Min 9:01: Meet Vikram Doctor
- Min 10:30: Alphonso mango, the “king of kings”
- Min 12:49: Is mango parochialism political?
- Min 17:37: The British love for mango pickles
- Min 21:08: Income hanging from a tree
- Min 30:20: A mango that’s “good for diabetics”
- Min 31:55: Making mango cheesecake with Ruchi
Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.
Guests: Nikesh Shukla (@nikeshshuklawriter), Vikram Doctor (@vikram.doctor), Ruchi Vaish (@intheknowkitchen)
This episode unravels the discrepancy between the illusion of oceanic abundance that our modern pescatarian diets are premised upon, and the reality of our waterways. To tell this story, I travel through Goa’s fish markets, seafood restaurants and jetties with marine biologist and Goa native – Aaron Lobo. We discuss how the modern fishing industry is depleting ocean life at an alarming rate, the implications of promoting the dinner plate-sized filet, and seeing fish as superfoods. It is quite apparent that there are not that many fish in the sea after all, but rather than making a case to stop fish eating, Aaron suggests something more compelling as a solution.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Min 1:20: An intro to Bad Table Manners
- Min 3:27: Meet Aaron Lobo
- Min 4:16: Reconnecting with the food system
- Min 4:51: Meet Samanth Subramanium
- Min 5:06: Goa’s economy of idleness
- Min 6:30: The performativity of modern-day fish markets
- Min 11:20: From artisanal fishing to bottom trawling
- Min 18:55: The importance of bycatch to ecology and food security
- Min 24:18: A case for eating lower down the marine food web
- Min 26:37: An author’s reflections on fishing
- Min 28:54: Globalization’s contribution to the arrival of new species in Goa
- Min 32:00: Steps to a better system
Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.
Guest: Aaron Lobo (@meenscientist)
Here’s a peek at what’s coming up in the first season of #BadTableManners, launching this Wed, Dec 15!