The food story of Lucknow lives on: Chef Ranveer Brar
As Lucknow recently featured in an international list of Best Food Cities in the World, chef Ranveer Brar shared what makes the city’s food world class
Lucknow’s world-famous food and celebrity chef Ranveer Brar complement each other. Recently, the experiential travel online guide Taste Atlas listed Lucknow and four other Indian cities — New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai — in its list of Best Food Cities of the World.
Chef Brar, a reality show judge-host and food historian, who was in the city to chronicle food history, talks about what makes his hometown so special.
Ambassadors of food and culture
Alongside the famous kebabs, biryanis, chaat and other delicacies, the chef feels it’s the culturally rooted Lucknowites who as proud ambassadors are taking the food legacy forward.
“In the old city areas, the Lucknowites take pride in their culture. And the essence of the food is alive because they hold it very closely to their chests. And the best thing about Lucknow is that it functions at its own speed, jabardasti marketing ya duniya ko dikhane ke liye nahin. It’s not part of any race. Of course, being a capital city, cultural mingling will happen, but still, people are very socially rooted. My takeaway is that the food story of Lucknow lives on!”
Keeping the food romance alive
“Purane (old city) logon ki mehnat hai and woh unki identity that they take pride in taking the culture and food legacy forward. Ek jimmedaari ki tarah they are taking it forward. The good thing is that the senior and the younger generations are taking it forward and preserving their heritage with pride,” says Brar.
He adds, “Like how well Prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad is taking the royal legacy of late Raja (Amir Mohd Khan) Mahmudabad forward. Young Maroof Umar with his visual heritage storytelling is beautifully showcasing the city’s soul on social media. I met some attar manufacturers and was so happy to see their young generations too being involved. If you visit Idrees Biryani, Abu (Bakar, owner) bhai will not just serve you good food but a history along with it.”
Old-world charm
Brar feels it’s the older Lucknow what he connects with. “In terms of food visits, Gomti Nagar and that side of Lucknow are usually not on my list. For me, from Telibagh to Sadar, Hussainganj, Aminabad and moving towards Akbari Gate, Chowk and old city areas. That’s Lucknow for me!”
Winter foods were his favourite. “In this season, winter food is the order of the day, so I wanted to tap in the delicacies like makkhan malai (nimish), kaali-gajar ka halwa, Kashmiri chai. Since I have lived here, it was strange to see makkhan-malai being sold in afternoon and night while it used to be a morning thing. But marketing is a double-edged sword!”
Chronicling history
“We talk so much about Delhi food, but it was through Lucknow that a lot of food travelled to the Capital. Like, Varanasi’s famous mallaio reached Lucknow as Nimish and then reached Delhi. Similarly, chaat too reached the same route. Biryani’s journey from Awadh to Kolkata and how the city gave the world Kakori and other kebabs. So, we are trying to discover Lucknow as messenger of culture for Delhi,” he adds on a signing off note.