Introducing Savor the Story
It’s about ingredients and their origins, classic recipe creations, and inspired variations. It’s about savoring the stories behind each dish, one recipe at a time.
From ingredients to inspirations: Stories beyond the plate
In the first volume (Swann's Way) of his aptly titled and monumental work, In Search of Lost Time, Marcel Proust beautifully articulates the moment of involuntary memory triggered by tasting a madeleine dipped in tea.
“No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory (...) I had ceased now to feel mediocre, contingent, mortal. Whence could it have come to me, this all-powerful joy? I sensed that it was connected with the taste of the tea and the cake, (...) And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go out before mass), when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom, my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane.”
Oh, how food can transport you to a place long left behind, sometimes even decades past. So vivid can the experience be that you see striking “new” details that were lost in the passage of time. The sensory experience, associated with food, unlocks a flood of involuntary memories, linking the present with the past in remarkable detail.
Food as a channel to the past, food as a way to preserve tradition, food as an expression of culture, food as a bridge between the past and the present, but also food as a means to transcend the present—beyond our insecurities and politics—and to, finally, be in and enjoy the moment.
This newsletter is about savoring those moments, memories and stories. It's about recreating those cherished food experiences and sharing them with you, so you can create your own stories with your loved ones, one recipe at a time.
Every post will consist of a food story accompanied by a recipe and cooking (or mixing) notes, and they will feature appetizers, pasta, entrées, desserts, and even cocktails. They are inspired, first and foremost, by my upbringing in India, my many food experiences there, and my family. It starts with my mom, who is an amazing cook, my dad, who had a genuine love for food and a knack for finding the highest-quality ingredients and hole-in-the-wall gems, and my uncle—now almost 90—who perfectly embodies the “will fly for food” philosophy, a rare trait in his generation. It continues with my husband, who gets excited every time I cook, and, above all, my 10-year-old son, a young gourmand and my true partner in crime. More than anyone else I know, he shares my love for ingredients and their origins, tradition, minimalism, and presentation, inspiring me to become a better cook every day. Beyond my family, my food is hugely inspired by my travel experiences, especially in Italy, Spain and Mexico. As an example, pasta, which was not part of my diet growing up, will feature prominently in this newsletter and is a product of my culinary experiences in Italy. I have always loved eating out and still eagerly look forward to it. Discovering new ingredients and combinations—as one often does when exploring a new country or culture—has added a whole new dimension to my cooking. But I also owe a huge debt to the Pacific Northwest—where I live—whose cuisine is heavily centered around local ingredients, a farm-to-table movement, and culinary experimentation.
In this newsletter, I will also spend a fair amount of time discussing ingredients and their origins, how to source them, minimalist cooking, so the primary ingredient shines through and takes center stage, and classic dishes and recipe variations. I don’t just want to teach you how to create beautiful dishes, but also how to think about them. And, more importantly, I want you to be excited about food, all the way from discovering new ingredients and their stories, sourcing them, cooking with them, and, finally, savoring your creations.
I will release a new post every two weeks, on Fridays. I hope you will join me on this journey, which is a labor of love and passion, and it inspires you to create your own stories along the way. To kick off the newsletter, I will start with a cocktail, “Hibiscus Mezcalita,” which is coming your way in just a few hours. I hope you enjoy it and subscribe. Cheers!