Cuisines around the world build upon a grammar and vocabulary that enables culinary conversations within communities and with the world. And yet, a global history of migration, colonisation, and exploitation of the natural world has shaped how the world sources its food, cooks, and eats today. This also means that such a conversation on cuisine and its culinary repertoire takes on Eurocentric perspectives. It leads to the question,“What would an Encyclopaedia of Indian Foods look like?”
In this workshop, Priya Mani will briefly introduce her work and how she goes about the various aspects of building this Visual Encyclopaedia of Indian Foods from A to Z. The participants will look at specific examples(ingredients and other entries) that use cross-cultural research, culinary techniques, cooking, making images, and importantly, how she tries to build a visual literacy of food through the visuality of this Encyclopaedia.
The session will end with practical ideas on how you can build your own food A-Z and contribute to the Visual Encyclopaedia of Indian Foods.