Barkha Dutt: evaluation

Transcript context

…Why? I’ll tell you why. Because there are so many different kinds of it. I think the thing about this country — and in some ways, an unlikely country in terms of not having a singular organizing principle to it, either in terms of religion or language but just a broad idea — it is so diverse. The best thing about us is our diversity, and that diversity is reflected in food. I haven’t eaten so many cuisines within my country, and I’m 50 and I haven’t. It will take a lifetime for people to get to know Indian food. I think the biggest reason that it’s so interesting is, one, because there isn’t one thing called Indian food. There isn’t one kind of Indian food. But mostly because of flavor and spices. The one thing we can never be accused of is being bland, neither our food nor our people. There’s a lot of, obviously, experimentation with spice and with flavor, and the palette has just now become that. There is no notion of ever having a meal that is not flavorful or full of aromas and spices. I don’t cook, but I eat a lot. As I said, that’s one compliment I’m happy to take as a generalized truth about my nation. As you know, there are plenty of reports of food aid, say, rotting on the sides of the highways, not being delivered in time. Yet, what’s also striking about most regional varieties of Indian food is just how extraordinary the vegetables are. How does that common picture fit together? There’s a major infrastructure problem with food transport, yet arguably, you have the best, tastiest vegetables in the entire world. How can that be?…

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