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Taste of Life: How ginger beer quenched thirst in Poona summer

India, May 1 -- Last month, I received an email from a college student in Bhubaneshwar who was working on a project that involved theorising food slang. She had compiled quite an impressive list and w... Read More


The tradition of baking hot cross buns on Good Friday

India, April 17 -- Human life largely centres on networks of interpersonal relationships that food strengthens and sacralises. We see our identity, traditions, laws, and holidays in terms of the food ... Read More


Canned food and poisoning in 19th-century Poona

India, April 10 -- In January 1885, shopkeepers in Poona and Bombay stocking European and American canned foods were suddenly and unexpectedly faced with customers returning their unopened cans or can... Read More


Taste of Life: How copper toxicity sparked quest for safer cooking alternatives

India, March 27 -- Cooking utensils play a vital role in shaping the flavours and techniques of regional cuisines. They reflect and shape cultural and culinary practices. In 1888, the Duke of Connaug... Read More


Taste of Life: A player's talent dismantled the caste barrier

India, March 20 -- Caste has been a powerful tool for social exclusion in India. Whose food you are allowed to eat and who you can eat with is decided by your caste. In the late 19th century, a young... Read More


To keep children away from alcohol, milk & sugarcane juice was served during 'Shimaga'

India, March 13 -- The process of transformation in the religious, social, economic, political, and cultural spheres tried to disrupt the stagnating traditional culture in Colonial India. The delibera... Read More


Taste of LIfe: When famine-afflicted children of Poona received aid from America

India, March 6 -- One fine evening in August 1879 in Pennington, New Jersey, a young William Wynn Bruere and his friend, Stevens, were passing a church where Bishop Thoburn of the Methodist Church was... Read More


A tale of American philanthropy efforts in Colonial India

India, Feb. 27 -- "Not more than others I deserve, Yet God hath given me more; And I have food, while others starve, Or beg from door to door." The "Christian Herald", an American weekly newspaper... Read More


The culinary customs around Valentine's Day

India, Feb. 13 -- To-morrow is St Valentine's Day, All in the morning betime, And I a maid at your window To be your valentine - Hamlet Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate love and friendship. ... Read More


When ants compelled the British in Poona to safeguard their eatables

India, Feb. 6 -- In warm and tropical regions, food is at serious risk from insect destruction and spoilage. The ability to store durable foodstuffs such as grains between harvests to ensure a constan... Read More