Chef Arzooman Irani was gifted an old recipe book written in 1906 by Harry Blake, one of the early settlers of Whitefield. He recreated some recipes from it to form a special menu that is a window to the rich heritage and culture of the Anglo Indians. He chatted with Divya Kaushik
While reading about the cultural influences and history of Bangalore, chef Arzooman Irani came across the history and culture of Whitefield. He wondered why this name stands out among the rest and this was the beginning of some exploration. “Among the names that typically sounded like that from Karnataka, the odd one out was Whitefield. It was the name that made me interested in its history. I was curious to understand my environment and where I lived and this led me to discover the story behind Whitefield,” says Irani, executive chef of Vivanta By Taj, Bangalore.
Whitefield is a neighbourhood of Bangalore established in the late 1800 as a settlement for the Eurasians of Bangalore. Informs Irani, “In 1882, Chamaraja Wodeyar, the maharaja of Mysore, granted 3,900 acres of land to the Eurasian and Anglo-Indian Association, Mysore and Coorg, (E&AI), for the establishment of Agricultural Settlements at Whitefield, Glen Gordon and Sourmond, in the Mysore state (now Karnataka). It was named after David S White, the then president of the Eurasian and Anglo-Indian Association, South India ltd, who took a lively interest in establishing a new settlement and helped in its advancement which at the beginning was very uphill work.” The chef collected all this information and much more about the community’s lifestyle and culture through frequent visits to Whitefield. On weekends he would visit many families with two of his chefs. Some were reluctant to welcome them and some families generously shared information. Soon after this, Irani came across an old recipe book, gifted to him by the family of Harry Blake, who was one of the original settlers of Whitefield. In 1906, Blake wrote a recipe book with over 125 recipes from the Anglo Indian community. The chef took upon himself a task of recreating over 30 recipes from Blake’s book. Remnant of the British Raj, chef Irani’s new menu with these recipes tells a tasteful tale of the city’s past, blending local ingredients with foreign cooking techniques. The four-course vintage menu includes beverages and dishes like ginger wine, chicken pepper soup, Harry’s fish curry, pulli beef, coconut pudding among many others delicacies. “It is not just a new menu, but a window to the rich heritage and culture, which is associated with Whitefield. When the Anglo Indian community came to settle here they modified their recipes as per the locally available ingredients. like any other home food, there was never one standard way of cooking something. Blake’s recipes reflect the kind of food he loved, for example most of his recipes are very sweet. So while recreating the recipes I have made only little changes, keeping in mind the taste of people at large, but they are prepared in a traditional way,” says Irani.
Each dish comes with a little story. “like during evening time the community people entailed in hunting and fishing. They had to go out of Whitefield for a catch.
There used to be a healthy competition among men to catch the best and big fish, whatever the fish be Harry cooked his fish in his own style. Mutton ball curry was made only on special occasions as a specialty. It is tender mutton balls cooked in a thick spicy curry. The cattle gazed in the woods had a special tender meat than the one gazed in the fresh grassland. It was a herby flavour of the meat that made this minced mutton ball curry different. In Whitefield, eggs or fruit were given to the butcher as a bribe for the best mince,” shares the chef.
Since the recipe book is handwritten in calligraphy, it is a tedious task to comprehend and then recreate them. But the chef is hoping that after these 30 recipes, he will be able to recreate some more from the Harry’s book.