From my newest Bloomberg column:
Why is the meals so good? I’ve a number of overlapping hypotheses, most of them coming from my background as an economist. Curiously, India’s culinary benefits will be traced to some good and a few not-so-good points of Indian society.
First, meals provide chains listed below are sometimes very brief. Trucking, refrigeration and different points of modernity are widespread, however a variety of provide chains are left over from a time when these had been luxuries. So if you’re consuming a vegetable, there’s a good probability it got here from close by. That often means it’s extra contemporary and tastes higher.
The unhappy fact is that India nonetheless has very excessive charges of meals spoilage, particularly when meals is transported longer distances. The nation is making important progress constructing out its transportation networks, however within the meantime the American culinary vacationer enjoys the very best of all worlds: Our buying energy is excessive, and we are able to spend our cash consuming super-local.
And:
India additionally has excessive revenue inequality. Meaning there may be loads of low-cost labor competing to cook dinner for diners with increased incomes. The “thickness” of the competitors results in innovation and experimentation — there are a variety of eating places, meals stalls, truck stops and the like. It’s a purchaser’s market. Moreover, a few of India’s greatest dishes, resembling Bengali sweets, are very labor-intensive. Indian desserts which might be mediocre in US eating places obtain the right care and a focus in Kolkata.
And:
Then there may be the cultural facet. India is a “meals nation.” After I ask locals that are the very best locations to eat, which I commonly do, I’m repeatedly struck by what number of have sturdy opinions. When everyone seems to be a meals critic, requirements rise accordingly. It additionally makes it simple for the customer to get high quality suggestions.
There are additional good arguments on the hyperlink. In Bangalore I had an outstanding meal, Kayasth meals, by Manu Chandra in Lupa, this was a particular menu:
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