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Thursday, March 28 2024
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Hobby cooks and home chefs turning their living rooms into restaurants

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On a rainy Sunday afternoon, 10 diners gather for a pop-up meal at a home in Bandra. Banana leaves are laid out in front of traditional chatais for a Keralite sadhya meal at 27-year-old Sneha Nair’s living room. After a round of introductions, Nair begins to bring in an array of dishes that will be served over grandma’s tales and folklore.

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Since June this year, Nair, an economic researcher on weekdays, has opened her home for those interested in experiencing a traditional Keralite meal on weekends. “People rarely know the different kinds of cuisine available within the region. Since I had a lot of time over the weekends, I decided to use it for my passion,” says Nair, who picked an apt name for her pop-up venture — Poppadum. Apart from the staples such as sambar and rasam, these meals also include authentic items such as yoghurt-based dish Kallan, coconut-based curry Olan and stir-fried veggies Thoran, among others. Her Malabar mutton meals include Aadu stew — a traditional Syrian Christian mutton preparation; Appams — steamed rice pancakes; and Malabar mutton biryani — which is influenced by Mughal cuisine. After the meal, Nair serves Suleimani, a drink which is made with light black tea and fresh lime juice.

In Delhi, 35-year-old Sumedha Jain runs Nomad Pattissier’s, a travelling pop-up tea party, which for now is being held at her Greater Kailash-II residence. Every Saturday, 10 diners gather to experience this trained pastry chef’s sweet treats over tea and conversations. Priced at Rs 1,000 a person, Jain’s sugary feasts — which range from Cornflakes pann acotta served with Nutella crunch and banana cream to Ginger cake served with pear sorbet and spiced pumpkin caramel — are fast gaining popularity amongst Delhi’s foodies. Jain has trained at the Culinary Institute of America and worked under some of the top chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants in New York. “I returned to India three months ago and wanted to do something in the food industry. That’s when I decided to set up Nomad Pattissier’s. I find great comfort when complete strangers from different walks of life bond over food,” says Jain.

Home chefs are taking the concept of a pop-up meal to the next level, by inviting people for an intimate gastronomical experience. These ventures are sprouting across the country — Bangalore is home to Coorg, a weekend-only pop-up that specialises in Coorgi food. Mumbai also has home chef Perzen Patel who runs a food blog and a catering service called Bawi Bride. She held her first event, #beerandbhonu at Bandra’s Pint Room. While food related pop-ups have been a trend in the hospitality industry for a while, these pop-ups offer a personalised experience. Insia Lacewalla is a food consultant who runs Small Fry Co with her partner Paresh Chhabria. The company curates F&B related pop-ups and events, and also is a consultant for Poppadum. “Eating in someone’s home is a different kind of experience. We also try and bring a cultural aspect to our events. For instance, meals at Poppadum always begin with coconut water and we do a sit-down lunch on banana leaves,” says Lacewalla.

Apart from creating a unique experience, these home-based pop-ups also help hobby chefs cut down on costs of opening a full-fledged restaurant. “These pop-ups offer hobbyists an opportunity to turn their passion into a profession,” comments Lacewalla. With zero investment required on rent and equipment, these ventures give them independence and flexibility. “I didn’t want to conform to the pressures of a commercial kitchen. Having worked at many, I realised I wanted to cook with love and passion in a happy environment,” says Jain, who works out of her mother’s kitchen. Lacewalla believes that a growing focus on regional cuisine and the need to break out of a routine will drive this trend forward. She says, “We are already getting requests from housewives, mothers of our friends asking us to help them start pop-ups at home. For instance, there is someone who wants to do a pop-up for Goan cuisine and another for Sindhi.”

meenakshi.iyer@expressindia.com

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