Sisterhood of kimchi makers, rainbow chasers and mukhwas eaters

Our Social Media Strategist Sroojana Iyer is solely responsible for turning us all into Korean fiends. She talks about watching Vincenzo, eating jajangmyeon and this week, she taught us how to make kimchi from scratch, complete with gochujang and fish sauce.

I see a huge resurgence for our love for Asian food. But this time, it's piggybacking on breads instead of curries. If the majorly trending shokupan—a milky Japanese bread—is not enough, there is also Vitenamese banh mi that makes up for a perfect work-from-home lunch item. To help you with such comfortable cravings, Food Editor Suman Quazi reviews Seefah Bakery, a new venture by chef-duo Seefah Ketchaiyo and Karan Bane who are entering the baking space with a range of goodies that take major inspiration from Japanese and Thai flavours.

If you follow chefs and restaurateurs on social media, you're probably aware of the perils of ordering via food aggregators that leave a big hole in the restaurants' finances. This is due to several cuts and commissions levied by them, which has seen a huge pushback from the industry in recent times. The solution that I see slowly coming up across many restaurants' social media platforms is Thrive. So this week, Digital Writer Tarini Sood writes about the new delivery app that has been founded by Krishi Fagwani, Dhruv Dewan and Karan Chechani. With over 3000 organisations listed out since August 2020, it seems like the only positive solution at the moment, in the direction of safeguarding the F&B industry's interest.

This month, the world is celebrating Pride and so are we, with a selection of stories that shed light LGBTQIA+ chefs and voices from the food space. To begin with, there's a conversation with our cover star and queer pastry chef Prateek Bakhtiani, who opened up about skewed representation in the industry in an exclusive interview with Quazi. And then, there's an interview with California-based chef Preeti Mistry penned by Senior Digital Writer Devika Manghnani, where the two-time James Beard nomine talks about life in the post-pandemic world as a farmer and why the coming together of the queer community is the need of the hour.

I end this note, like all good Indian meals do, with something sweet and refreshing. Writer Manal Doshi writes a love letter to mukhwas. Made with variations like carom seeds, split coriander seeds and misri, this desi mouth freshener has a profound cultural significance and also nutritional benefits. Plus, it leaves behind a sweet after taste, which I hope this letter does too.

Until next time,

Sonal