Āsvāda / आस्वाद
Āsvāda: verb, meaning ‘to taste’
Welcome to Āsvāda, a place to explore the taste of Indian cuisine.
I am excited to share this digital publication in hopes that it becomes a repository of all things that make the Indian cuisine what it is — a frequently misunderstood but delightfully complex and finely nuanced essential part of global cuisines.
The flavors, the taste of Indian cuisine can be bold. Its preparations can be demure and delicate. The spices can be strong and potent, they can be tender. The cuisine is evocative of people and place. It can unite communities. It is one that evokes fierce protective instincts. It is all things to all people. And still holds its own.
Through Āsvāda, readers will get a taste of this cuisine — through the various threads that make it — its spices, and flavors, its history, the rituals, and the connections. Through the people who make it unique and their stories. In the context of events that bring the food to our table, personal or communal. It is these things and more, and we have so much more to explore.
A form of ‘grace’ was written in the 17th century, by the poet saint, Sant Ramdas. Written in Marathi, goes as follows:
“वदनी कवळ घेता नाव घ्या श्रीहरीचे ।
सहज हवन होते नाम घेता फुकाचे ।।
जिवन करी जिवित्वा अन्न हे पुर्णब्रह्म ।
उदर भरण नोहे…
