EXCLUSIVE! Food Talk | Rashmi Uday Singh: ‘Food writing was considered to be low brow and only hungry…’

During the Jaipur Literature Festival , Rashmi Uday Singh spoke about her journey in food writing, how things have changed with the influencers coming in and more. She believes the best way to know about a city is through it’s food and restaurants.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

Tell us about your food writing journey?

I qualified as a journalist in 1977, and by mistake, I cleared the civil service exam. I chose revenue over police service because I didn’t want to wake up in the morning and go marching. I came to Bombay after getting married, and I fell in love with Bombay. I thought the best way to explore the city was through its restaurants. That’s how my food journey began.

I used to explore a lot of restaurants and used to be excited to discover them. Since, moved to Mumbai in 1980, I wanted to write a book on Bombay restaurants. But it got rejected because the publishers had to say nobody is interested in reading guidebooks on restaurants. From writing columns in newspapers my writing career began. When I started writing about food, at that time it was considered low brow and only hungry, greedy, silly people wrote about food. A friend of mine called me to say, “Being so qualified, what is wrong with you and you are writing about brownies?”

How fashionable is it to know and write about food **?**

When I started writing India’s first restaurant guide, the idea was first rejected by three publishers. But then it was one of the best-selling books. Slowly, food writing evolved over the years. There was a time when gluttony and eating too much were considered a sin. Now, it is fashionable to know about food. So, there is a change in the attitude towards food. Food writing similarly has gone through a sea change, and I have been watching it and tracking it scientifically. Earlier there were dhabas and five-star hotels. But now just look around.

 How being a foodie and food writing has evolved?

As far as food writing is concerned, there were very few people writing about food. But now it is considered fashionable and what has brought about this great change in food writing is the democracy of the internet. I love the fact that everybody is a food critic. It’s a good thing, I will tell you why because I am a great believer that one food critic’s palette cannot decide what everybody should eat. I may love dark chocolate, but you may hate it. But for that I cannot say that your palette is very unevolved. Food is very subjective. It gives diverse views, attitudes towards food.

How has the approach towards food writing changed with food bloggers and influencers?

When I go to a restaurant, I like to go unannounced, and I always pay my bill as a rule. But the food bloggers and influencers don’t do that. It gives me an insight into different people’s experiences. I have a lot of complaints from restaurants about influencers and bloggers blackmailing them. I would like to do something, but the restaurant owners and chefs are not willing to give out their names.