Share
Food, for many reasons beyond cultural, traditional and culinary greatness, transcends to become a way of associating emotional memories with specific tastes, smells and sights. If you’ve been away from India for a long time and land up on the streets of your hometown to sample some of the street food, the first hit of nostalgia is always what one tends to associate with the food memories stemming from the place. While there isn’t just one reason why we usually deviate towards an experience of eating to be synonymous with anything but the food, a lot comes into play in creating this cumulative sensory involvement.
Back in 2020, when news broke out about Rihanna’s company, Roraj Trade LLC, trademarking for a line of tableware designed by the musician and make-up mogul, fans went beserk at the idea of being able to eat dinner in a plate or with a fork conceptualised by the superstar performer. While reactions to the news seemed polarised at the time, it went on to reinstil the concept of emotional design being closely associated with how we prefer to enjoy our meals. A similar example of this can also be traced back to 2015, when three-Michelin star restaurant, Noma, announced that they were selling tableware from their Japanese pop-up.
Although fans and followers of what was considered to be one of the world’s best restaurants scrambled to get a table at the actual location, some gladly settled for paying as high as $200 to purchase a fork that was sold, amongst other tableware. With the popularization of concept restaurants, technological innovation in agriculture, better techniques to prepare and store food advancing rapidly – close attention is also being paid to create an environment in which variations in décor, table-top accessorising and the comfort of diners has been prioritised.
Image Credits: D'Source
When a deep-dive is taken into what really constitutes emotional design and the connection it has with enhancing the way we eat – three main factors come into play – its ability to evoke nostalgia, how much utility it possesses and how many senses can be engaged simultaneously. To illustrate this with an example, culture historian and founder of Bombaywalla Historical Works, Simin Patel shares an example of Bombay’s Irani cafes that flourished in the 1950s and 1960s – where the signature cups used to serve tea and coffees to patrons was a fairly utilitarian means of running an establishment. She also adds that one of the myths surrounding these cups was also that different coloured cups were used to serve people from different castes; although these eateries were known to be largely caste-neutral.
“The nostalgic value of the tableware used in these cafes really came about in the late 80’s but utility was uppermost on the minds of the owners. In the last decade, the aesthetics of these cafes have become an international phenomenon, but these are actually very practical people who only have utilitarian reactions; within themselves you wouldn’t find that nostalgia. The focus is not the food anymore but what’s interesting is that there isn’t much talk about the crockery or cutlery,” she adds. In the times we live today, where aesthetics are as important as the food, Simin also points out that it is important to acknowledge the fact that the Irani cafes we know of today, also served as provision stores in the past.
She also adds that the people whose brainchild these culinary ventures were, were businessmen and migrants to the city, and worked hard at what they were good at. “The nostalgia we’re creating now is totally out of place with the cultures of the initial cafes. Irani café owners were supposed to be rude and didn’t talk too much, unlike Mr. Kohinoor (of Britannia & Co.) who was an aberration,” she quips. Simin also adds that the look and feel of these cafés have now transformed into caricature versions and how contemporary restaurants have turned the essentials of an Irani café into creating an alternate environment that carries echoes of a specific time period.
Also Read:
In a study led by gastro-physicist Charles Spence at Oxford University, he mentions that ‘warm colour can increase appetite, and changing the thickness of the tableware handle can enhance the eating awareness. Hence, in the process of eating, everything perceived by the senses, environment, food, tableware and so on all affect the dining experiences.’ To get a deeper sense of this statement, we got in touch with Chef Avinash Martins, whose Benaulim-based restaurant, Cavatina has been serving up reimagined variations of the food Martins grew up with. About the unique way in which bread is served at the restaurant where it arrives on the back of a bicycle, nestled in a bamboo basket, Avinash says, “At Cavatina, I celebrate Goa’s culture, food and the community. If you trace the history of the cuisine, there is the Saraswat cuisine, the Aboriginal cuisine and the Indo-Portuguese cuisines. When I decided to put something on the menu, I wasn’t just putting out food – I was also putting out art, culture and stories and these were my tools.”
He points out that even the table set-up at the restaurant, which has a bamboo placemat at the base, is in fact a 20-feet long net used for drying paddy by a local community, that was shrunk to be accommodated at Cavatina. Other elements that feature on the table also include earthen tumblers to sip water from that were made by local potters, a mortar and pestle cruet set for salt and pepper that tell the story of the stone grinders of Goa, a flower vase shaped like an old-school pickle jar – all meant to be aspects that the diner connects with as soon as they are seated at a table. “You feel aspects of being in a modern setting but still feel the vibes of being in yesteryear Goa,” he adds.
Image Credits: Cavatina Goa/Instagram
Avinash also says that the menu is a story-telling menu that needs these objects, artefacts and sounds to give the diner a visceral experience while dining. “When you hear the ponk ponk, it’s a wake-up alarm for Goans as the bakers would deliver bread at home each morning. The restaurant is basically all my experience woven into the menu and the story of how bread was introduced by Jesuit priests in Majorda, from where it spread all over India, was something I wanted to convey through this way of bringing bread to the table,” he says. About blending each of these elements into a cumulative experience that seamlessly blends stories and food, he adds that it is necessary to stay true to one’s emotions. He emphasises that it is hard to go wrong while recreating an experience that stems from a memory one has lived through.
“The bread course at our restaurant is served with kalchi kodi (translating to yesterday’s leftover curry). When we didn’t have refrigerators 70-80 years ago, we were self-sustained and so when curry wasn’t thrown out, the rice was also saved and soaked in water overnight to serve as kanji the next morning. People who’ve known this have a glow on their faces because they remember their mother and grandmothers serving them this, as children,” he further quips. Avinash is, self-admittedly, a sucker for old stories that he can present in a new-world, global form through his food. He gushes about how his treatment of Goan cuisine has taken people by surprise as most people were offered a lens into the lesser-known culture of the beach state. “Fusion is not my style, my style is reimagination. I have not altered the classics, just played around with them,” he asserts.
While one may argue that the primary purpose of visiting an eating establishment is to enjoy the culinary offerings, Avinash believes that for a place that has no distractions (read: live music, beautiful views), his doors are open for anyone with a passion for food. “The minute you enter the restaurant, the way you see the décor and how the food is presented, all of it counts. My diners are hungry for an experience, and I want to give them that recall where they get to taste a hay-smoked mackerel and relive the memories they carry. Non-Goans are delighted to find out the stories of our bread, Feni and the toddy tappers to appreciate the value of the artisans.”
Image Credits: Chef Avinash Martins/Instagram
Avinash says that being a believer in the origin, he prefers to design his experiences using all the help he can find, right at the source itself. He is also intrigued by the idea of integrating narratives with food using a backwards process, so that diners develop an understanding of the full spectrum of where their food comes from. “The dining experience is first and foremost recognition for the artisans, basket-makers, weavers, stone carvers and potters. If I had to serve a prawn cocktail, the classic way would be to arrange it on a martini glass. However, I’m serving my version out of a stone mortar and pestle, so the diner is surprised and intrigued to understand why. There have been instances where guests have asked to be put in touch with the artisans so that they can buy some of the serve ware and go on to support these makers.”
“The whole thing is two-folded – yes, it creates a design element and breaks through the conventional but it also establishes a bond between these artisans and the diner. That’s the bridge I’m trying to be with my work at Cavatina. Micro-cuisines all over India should evolve and have their own opportunity to shine and the lens must be held closer to discover. People just need the vision and an eye for detail,” he signs off.
