History in her fingers
A collection of spoons from across the world, crystal ware in all shapes and sizes, memorabilia and knick knacks that speak history take the place of pride in Seetha Muthiah’s heart and home. Author of cookbook ‘Flavours of Chettinad’, member of the accomplished Murugappa family, a proud resident of Chennai, Seetha Muthiah is a treasury of the classic food world. Nothing short of a food historian, she has many gastronomic anecdotes and trivia to give away about Madras of her time.
Born almost a decade before independence, Mrs. Muthiah as a young girl learnt table etiquette in school. “When foreigners came home, we’d neatly fold napkins, something that was taught in school”, she says. As a 75 year old, she enjoys entertaining guests even today. Reminiscing about home entertainment in those days she says, “If we were expecting many guests, we’d call in the only caterer at the time – Harrisons, they would come, set up the table the English way – this is how we organized big dinners”
Even though dinners were mostly at home, she enjoyed an occasional trip to Moti Mahal for the Chicken dish and Irani’s for the tiny samosas. “During those days people rarely went out to eat, but in the 50’s it was Chicken on Toast at the MCC Club and freshly made Finger chips at the Boat Club that we all enjoyed” she declares.
And what about the 60’s I ask, “The town favourite was New Woodlands Drive- in. With their tasty Masala Dosa, Channa Batura and service in the car everybody wanted to be there”
With her family doing a lot of business with the Far East, she had many interesting and intriguing food experiences back then. A minister from Burma once stayed at the family guest house. Jars and jars of pickle were brought in by the Burmese cooks. “I was very curious to taste these black pickles, so the cook smeared some on the toast and gave it to me, it was absolutely delicious” she reminisces. “Later I asked him what it was made of, to which he said it was a paste of beetles, flavoured with some spices”. Completely unfazed about the incident she goes on to say, “It’s a delicacy of the country, just like we fry banana flowers and eat, the Chinese do that with Mayflies”. Adventurous in her heydays, Mrs. Muthiah turned vegetarian once she crossed 60. “I have eaten everything I wanted to, now I don’t have any cravings” she confirms. “I always say this, if a young girl at 20 doesn’t eat anything, at 40 she cannot eat anything.”
While being open to change, she fiercely guards authenticity, “In our time food stayed authentic, now everything is fast food. There may be 100s of restaurants dishing out Chettinad food, but very few are authentic. Today food is made to individual tastes. Change may be good, but appreciate the authenticity of the cuisine”
As the Matriarch of the family, Mrs. Muthiah loves bonding over a great meal. “The secret to a happy family is great food, get the interests of your family towards your cooking – that ensures you stay together”
Now who can ever disagree with that?
- Sowmya Ravindranath
|
