Join Varun Duggirala and Krish Ashok, author of ‘Masala Lab’ and TCS Global Head, as they explore the origins of Indian cuisine and the cultural influences that have shaped it over centuries. Krish sheds light on the fascinating history and science of flavours, spices, and techniques that make Indian food so unique and beloved worldwide.
From understanding why no dal ever tastes as good as the one your mother makes, to the rich history of Biryani to why jaggery is not really any better than sugar, Krish busts every food myth and explains the truth behind it in this latest episode of Take aPause!
Krish Ashok heads the Digital Workplace unit at Tata Consultancy Services where his team helps reimagine the future of work for large enterprise customers. In between MS Teams and Zoom meetings, he also likes cooking, a passion that resulted in a book called “Masala Lab: The Science of Indian Cooking” published by Penguin Random House in December 2020. Between eating and work, he additionally writes columns on topics at the intersection of technology and culture for a variety of platforms such as LiveMint etc.
Timestamps 00:00 Intro 02:32 Krish Ashok On His First Unique Food Experience 04:59 Krish Ashok On The Diversity of Flavors within Indian Cuisine 07:44 Krish Ashok On The Indianization of Food: Borrowing and Adapting from Around the World 10:08 Krish Ashok On The Complexities of Cooking 17:28 The Cultural Evolution of Indian Food 19:58 Krish Ashok Explains The Origins of Biryani 27:40 Varun Duggi and Krish Ashok Discuss Fad Diets 32:21 Krish Ashok Explains The Science Behind The Effects Of Sugar 37:08 Varun and Krish On The Unique Art Of Indian Pickle Making 39:36 The Multi-Dimensional Experience of Flavor and Nostalgia 42:00 Familiarity and Novelty in Food Preferences 49:32 Krish On Food and Nostalgia in Cultural Identity 57:00 Krish Explains The Role Of Memories In Experiencing Food 01:01:58 - Conditioning and Creating Cultural Identity through Food 01:04:30 - The Cultural Variations of Food Preferences 01:07:02 - Texture Preferences in Food Cultures 01:11:57 - The Distorted View of Carcinogens in Media and Social Influencers
#varunduggi #takeapause #foodscience #krishashok
ABOUT VARUN A creative entrepreneur turned content creator, Varun is one of India’s leading conversationalists in the modern business, personal development, and creator landscapes with over 1 million podcast listens. The author of the bestseller Everything Is Out of Syllabus, he’s the host of Advertising Is Dead, one of India's most popular business podcasts with over 300,000 listens in 2021 alone, as well as co-host of Think Fast, an irreverent business podcast that has ranked #3 on Apple’s Podcast Marketing Charts. In 2009, he co-founded The Glitch, India’s largest ‘digital-first’ creative agency.
