On a daily basis, Anisha Oommen gets plenty of queries: Where to source the best cheese, pepper in Coorg, Lakadong turmeric, and even chocolates and teas? When the co-founder and director of Goya Media was creating Salt, a food and culture festival starting October 10 in Bandra, she simply pulled up her recco list. Over two days, the festival will bring 50 homegrown brands from across the country, to celebrate the art of hosting.
“Today, people have the capacity to spend on high-quality produce coming out of India. This is a mother list of all the people that we are shopping from,” she adds. In the world of AI and digital speed, the idea is to slow down and answer a meaningful question: “What it means to host well. To indulge in the pleasure of tactile and beautiful art of sharing time over food and drinks,” she says.
ON October 10 and 11, 12 noon onwards
AT Pioneer Hall, Bandra.
LOG ON TO urbanaut.app
ENTRY Rs 699
NOTE Children under 12 enter free when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult
The Guide’s Top Picks
Sumit Saran
Mushroom mania
In a workshop called Understanding Gourmet Mushrooms, participants will explore how different varieties respond to heat, fat, and seasoning, and how small changes in technique can transform their flavour and texture. “Cooking is a form of experimentation. Rather than following a recipe step-by-step, we’ll taste and compare a few simple preparations to understand what makes mushrooms work,” says Sumit Saran of Shroomery, a Gourmet mushroom farm in Delhi, who will be helming the session.
LOG ON TO shroomery.in/
Mohamed Yaseen
Oil’s well
Oil is one of the most misunderstood ingredients in the kitchen. Sign up for a session called The Anatomy of Cooking Oils: Technique, Extraction & Flavour to decode it. “There’s a tendency to look for one ‘best’ oil — for heart health, weight loss, muscle gain or a diet; when the better question is: What are you cooking, how much are you using, and what does your overall diet look like?” says Mohamed Yaseen, CEO, co-founder of Gramiyaa, producer of wood-pressed edible oils. “We’ll guide participants to understand the oil itself: its source, behaviour in cooking and how it fits into everyday diet,” he adds.
LOG ON TO gramiyaa.com
Silchar honey
Bee there
The Beekeeping & Honey Terroir tasting by Sonal Dayal Sarjolta of Shillar House, a Himachal Pradesh based artisanal shop, will guide participants through flora, elevation and flavour linked with the honeybee. “We will talk a bit about bees and then focus more on how region, flora and origin matter in the taste of different honeys. In every spoon of honey lies a landscape — its blossom, its weather, its soul,” says Sarjolta.
LOG ON TO @shillarhouse
