I’m leading this culinary tour through beautiful South India to explore the regional cuisine of Tamil Nadu and Chettinad. This is an insider’s tour, built on my 30 years experience of working, researching and travelling in the subcontinent. I’ve been cooking regional South Indian food since my twenties, and it is absolutely delicious. Let me take you to my favourite menus.
The food of South India is very different to that of the North. A rice-dominated cuisine, the cooks of Tamil Nadu has mastered the art of filling delicious dhosas with vegetarian delights and coconut chutneys. Dark cane jaggery with lime and coriander on the side, the tastebuds and senses fulfilled by salt, sweet, sour, heat.
Rocket dhosas, a huge paper-thin rice pancake, stuffed with warm, satisfying potatos and scented with black onion seed. Not only do we get to eat this delicious food, but we’ll learn how to make it. India has deeply regional cuisine, and this tour bites into the most delicious of it. Elasticated waistbands, my friends, are a must.
Chettinad is an eclectic mix of early 1900’s architecture, local building styles, imported glasswear from Venice, tiles from Holland. It has a rich, fertile terroir from which the food culture is referenced. Cooks from Chettinad are justly famous across India, and we’re going to spend a few slow days learning what heat to smoke a chilli at, and why this tomato is best grated than cut. You can watch, chop, stir or photograph at these cooking events, and definitely try the results.
The tour offers cooking demonstrations and the opportunity to roll up our sleeves and don aprons. We’ll be visiting markets to buy spices, bazaars for cooking hardware, village farmers in Chettinad to follow the passage of food from farm to plate. We’ll spent time learning how to temper spices and make signature Chettinad dishes.
If you enjoy photography, there are great opportunities to take amazing photographs with my support if you need it. And once you’re home, I’ll make you a beautiful, personalised photographic cookbook of our trip for your coffee table. Please email me for details
