New Delhi | It is through food, cooking, and sharing that we live and leave legacies behind, says nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar, who has penned her maiden recipe book "Mitahara".
Diwekar blends personal anecdotes with Indian and yogic food wisdom to suggest simple lifestyle changes and ways of adopting clean and healthy eating habits.
"Mitahara: Food Wisdom From My Indian Kitchen", published by Dorling Kindersley (DK) and with a foreword by actor Varun Dhawan, will be available in bookstores from July 16.
The illustrated book is rooted in the ancient Indian philosophy of mitahara - the practice of moderate, mindful eating. Mitahara means paying attention to what one eats, to enjoy the flavour, taste, and texture of local, seasonal, and traditional food, Diwekar says.
"In the modern world, the subtlety of eating diverse foods is under serious threat. When diversity is lost, the small joys of sharing meals, of getting to know each other over food is lost," she writes in the book's introduction.
"The book will take you through the seasons; it will remind you of forgotten foods and familiar tastes; and it will outline what you could eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and in between," the author says.
The book was conceived post-Covid.
"I had cooked endlessly during the pandemic - it was my newfound love," Diwekar says.
"Actually, cooking has been in my heart for a long time. I just never acted on it. I had, in the past, cooked food. But during the pandemic, it became therapeutic and I woke up every day longing to cook more.
"My kitchen changed, as did my perspective and my social media posts, but most importantly, my life changed. I realize now that cooking is like love, at once complicated and simple. The romance, the meaning, the nurturing comes out of this paradox," she adds.
And like love, cooking must touch everyone's lives, hence this book, Diwekar writes.
She says recipes do not belong to one chef, one kitchen, or even one ingredient, but they are built by constant innovations, small and big contributions, by mothers and grandmothers who ruled over and toiled in the kitchen, who kept not just the fires and food warm but even our hearts.
