In this age of food glut and food writing, #KhabarLive explores the concept of prison food delicacies. Don’t you agree the era of Food had dawned, ushering in Bhojan Yug? We may no doubt be a poor, underdeveloped nation not reaching our upper calories limits with a large percentage of the population suffering from malnutrition.
Let us forget that. We have to focus on gourmet cuisine and the proliferation of culinary experts and seven-star chefs who on TV screens clean, cook and present hundreds of delicacies from different parts of the country.
The newspapers and magazines offer ‘food news’, present them in delectable fashion and use high voltage sales strategy (roping in film stars and other celebrities) to advertise their cuisine. When men and women are not emoting on the TV screens, they are cutting veggies, organizing masalas, hunting recipes and presenting mouth-watering dishes. The food critics tuck into them offering appreciative comments, ‘God is in food, all is well with the world.’
Recipes can easily be planned, dishes given special names and served. For instance items like ‘Khalnayak Kutlets’, ‘Munnabhai Dadagiri’, ‘Five Idiots Khichdi’ (made from five ingredients), ‘Bahut Kuch hota hain’ (spicy pickles) and so on. The restaurants should have the ‘prison touch to highlight authenticity.
The varieties which are served are amazing. Food is cooked everywhere by everyone, at home, restaurants, gullies, outdoors, gardens, wedding halls and so on. Every eatery hunts for the unusual! While Veg, Non-veg, Mughlai, Chinese, Thai, british, South Indian, Lucknowi schools of cooking have grown enormously popular, chefs and restaurants looked out for more and more exotic varieties. Don’t mind their originality, one has to be different in cooking and serving food.
British cooking is supposed to be staid but strangely enough it has come out with absolutely unheard of cuisine which is growing in popularity. This is ‘Prison food’ served in three top ranking London restaurants which plan special menus. The items are cooked by ex-convicts who are on the way to rehabilitation Called ‘Clink Restaurants’ they are a big hit with customers and it is found that a large majority of ex-convicts who took to cooking did not return to their life of crime.
Why not apply the same strategy in India and start Prison Food restaurants for which there is a lot of scope. Recipes can easily be planned, dishes given special names and served. For instance items like ‘Khalnayak Kutlets’, ‘Munnabhai Dadagiri’, ‘Five Idiots Khichdi’ (made from five ingredients), ‘Bahut Kuch hota hain’ (spicy pickles) and so on.
The restaurants should have the ‘prison touch to highlight authenticity. Why not striped uniforms for the staff, dining halls designed like prison cells and family rooms patterned after torture chambers just for the weirdo effect? The overall effect would be stunning.
In their scope for innovation, the Prison Restaurants could organise Food Festivals of different kinds, ‘Andaman’ Food Festival’ serving only those items which were served to life convicts in the island prisons during the British days. A nice touch of history. VVIP’s and celebrities could be felicitated in Prison Restaurants, they should be led to the dining tables wearing silver handcuffs.
Oh, the scope is endless. The restaurants would be booked for months in advance! #KhabarLive