Sriparna Tah - Aesthetics Are Important but Authenticity Is What Matters the Most (Food Blogger From India)

 

A Chemistry major turned into a Material Science Engineer to an Assistant

Teacher to a Food Blogger cum Software Consultant, my career choices are as

dynamic as my kitchen diaries.

I own a page named thechef_inthe_making where I post my cooking

chronicles and with time we are now a family of over 13K. I have done

hundreds of collaborations with top brands like YogaBars, Disano, Coolberg,

Dettol and many more, hosted giveaways and participated in podcasts as well

through my page.

Cooking is my passion and being able to share my recipes, secret tips, and

kitchen stories with others gives me immense happiness and a sense of

accomplishment.

1. Tell us about your background and journey.

Food is in my genes and love for food is what I grew up with but love for cooking is something I developed over time. Growing up, every Sunday I used to accompany my dad to the fish and vegetable market and we used to play this game where he would show me a bunch of random things and I would come up with a dish in my mind using those. 

Though it was just a trivial game back then, it has actually helped me to grow a strong sense of taste and flavours. Experimenting with ingredients, I can now kind of imagine the taste in my sub-conscience even before prepping the dish and that is what gives me the confidence to innovate.

Bengalis are famous worldwide as hardcore non-vegetarians, but in my household, I have my granny who is purely vegetarian, hence I got to taste the best of both worlds. I have also stayed with people from different regions of India and thus learnt a lot about food belonging to varied cultures and hence nothing stops me from exploring various cuisines. 

I started a page with my roommate in 2017 during my grad school days in the USA and that was the very start of my blogger journey and unfortunately, we had to delete that page due to persisting technical glitches. After a lot of procrastination in 2019, I was back on this journey with the help of my then-fiancée (now husband) and that's when thechef_inthe_making was born.

2. Which is your favourite cuisine and dish?

For me, it's always good food over everything or anything else and as I already mentioned I never restrict myself from exploring any cuisine. Special thanks to my parents for introducing me to different kinds of food and to my foodie friends and partner for helping me experiment more as I and my tastebuds grew.

So cannot mention a favourite but it's very much dependent on my mood. Some days it would be a plate full of mutton biriyani, or there exist days where nothing works for me except dal chawal. Chinese, North Indian, Italian, and Ethiopian are some of my favourite cuisines and an overloaded pizza is forever my comfort food.

3. Should food blogging be just a passion or can it be a regular career?

What's better than pursuing a career in something which is at the same time your passion. So of course, food blogging can be a regular career. In fact, I really regret not starting it way earlier in my career. There are thousands who love to eat which are often confused with love for food. Being passionate about food is unique and the ones who are in a real sense passionate should definitely take up food blogging as a career option.

4. What makes you appreciate a particular dish or a restaurant and talk

about it on your blog?

Aesthetics are important but authenticity is what matters the most to me. I love

experimenting with my food but when it comes to extreme fusions, I consider myself a bit old school. For me, food is an emotion and restaurants which could take me back down memory lane or create an absolute fresh memory on its own top my list. There exist small roadside stalls which can sometimes beat some fancy stuff with its authenticity, and that is what I appreciate the most. Restaurants which serve great food are always my favourite kind and

nothing else matters. Innovations are always appreciated by me as long as it holds onto the roots of where they belong.

5. Which is your favourite book and why?

Am a food blogger by choice and anything that relates to food, be it TV shows, movies or books are my favourite. The Travelling Belly: Eating Through India’s By-Lanes by Kalyan Karmakar is my favourite book. First, it gives me a sense of pride as a co Bengali, and his Instagram page and blogs are something I follow religiously. Apart from that, I could so well relate to everything written in

this book as I have had first-hand experiences in the same.

I have also been to places by referring to his book and trust me it just added to the pages of my wonderful memories and experiences. Food is the best way to connect and reading this book, I instantly found that connection in the first few pages which is another reason for this book to be my favourite. His book reveals a willingness to engage with food in the simplest way possible.

Interviewed by: Namisha Saxena

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