A little over a year ago, a writer wrote to us about finding fish in the desert.
Some stories are just waiting to be written. Some ideas stick in our heads like the refrain from a song that we’ve been playing on loop since weeks. To mark enthucutlet’s second(!) anniversary and our tenth season, we decided to put together a clutch of ideas that refused to leave us, notes that brightened our inboxes over the last two years, stories we absolutely had to put out in the world.
Like the essay we have this season by Sangeeta Chakravorty. In her easy conversational style, Sangeeta writes about subversive act of a woman eating paan on a street corner, about the suave Saeed Jaffery who took on the character of a Bhopali paanwala and made it unforgettable, about paan in subcontinental political speech, and about the ravages of climate change on betel leaf cultivation. These are the kind of stories we dreamed of when we launched enthucutlet two years ago.
We also have a story on dining spaces that are so indescribable, we don’t know what to call them, not yet at least. Simply because every time we visit them, they are something entirely new. We’re not talking about pop-ups. We’re talking about venues that are fluid, that offer workshops, events, cultural activities, and a sense of community. Spots that you can go to with a gang of friends, or even alone, and come back with an experience so unique, it stays with you, instead of merging into the many other meals you’ve had at restaurants. We got Ishita Thakur to report on this exciting trend.
And then we have Renjie Wong comparing samosas to curry puffs.
Renjie, taker of great photographs, thrower of glorious dinner parties, and writer of Insta captions that make us gasp with big feelings, moved to Mumbai a couple of years ago to head Singapore’s Tourism Board in Mumbai. After a few very engaging conversations with him earlier this year, we knew we had to get this modern-day Renaissance polymath to write about his perspective on eating in Mumbai as a Singaporean, about the intersections in our nations’ flavours and cultures and histories. So we nagged him soundly for many months, and the result, ‘Bombay Dreams of Rempah’, is totally worth the wait.
It’s a season of enthucutlet that’s wide ranging. It has personal essays, trend reports, and the sort of unusual food stories that define enthucutlet. Season X is also themeless – unless ‘story ideas that would not leave us’ counts as a theme. Of course, we have guides to help you plan eating itineraries. This time we look at Burma, Singapore and Kolkata. There is also a shopping list that’s pretty pickled.
Season X is also my last one as enthucutlet’s editor-in-chief. It’s a season I am proud to sign off with.
It’s been such a joy being here with you, and collaborating with our writers and contributors on all things food in India, from the sublime to the profane. It’s been an unmatched thrill, covering the breadth and depth of topics we have in these last two years. The many texts and emails from you, our readers, and the comments section on our Instagram – they made all the many many hours of copyediting and chasing deadlines worthwhile.
Now, about that story I mentioned earlier? The one about seer fish found in a land of sand, hundreds of kilometres away from sea? You’ll have to read Lavanya Arora’s essay to know more.
Season X is waiting for you.