There was an influx of famous literati and culture vultures to Lahore for the Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) 2016. Included amongst them fittingly - for Lahore is still the gastronomic capital of Pakistan - were two grand dames of cuisine: Madhur Jaffery and Anissa Helou. Both are well known in the West, yet each is identified closely with the cuisine of their origins – India in the case of Madhur and the Middle East with Anissa.
Both had amazing careers before going into this field. Madhur Jaffrey was a well known actress and iconic among the Shakespeare wallahs. Anissa headed Sotheby’s in the Middle East before embarking on her prolific second career. Each was delightful in conversation, and each expressed pure delight in food and in its cultural origins.
Madhur Jaffery is now famous as the woman who made curry go global. Nano my maternal grandmother had a large collection of her cookbooks. As a young girl, one of my secret pleasures was to go through them repeatedly. I remember being enthralled by Madhur’s recollections of long hot summer days and eating sour mangoes during monsoon time. During Nano’s afternoon siesta, we would persuade her young Chitrali cook Bulleh Khan to light a small fire for us so we could play ‘house’ and cook. This involved cooking dal and rice with earthenware pottery procured from the Friday market. These experiments produced more potions than edible food, but then no one was expected to taste our concoctions, except our pet goat which had no choice.
Madhur Jaffery is now famous as the woman who made curry go global
Madhur Jaffery - queen of curry
Since then, I have evolved into an adventurous cook, and as I travel frequently, I try and learn about food and recipes in whichever country I happen to visit - whether the Middle East, North Africa, or Asia. It was wonderful therefore to read Anissa Helou’s book Levant: Food and Memories of the Middle East, which profiles food of her Syrian-Lebanese parentage. I was lucky enough to moderate a conversation with Anissa Helou during LLF and enjoyed a far-ranging chat with her over the course of the festival. She was warm, open and such a great cultural ambassador of the Middle East.
Food is as important as air in Lahore. There is no shortage of food festivals and restaurants to show case our local cuisine. What is less appreciated is where the food comes from and the local markets which are home to some fantastic produce. In Washington DC, the farmers’ market near my house is the place to be on a Saturday morning. People wander around, whether after their morning yoga classes or runs in the park. They taste homemade local cheese, eat a freshly baked almond-crusted croissant and sip Equadorian coffee. Baked goods sell out instantly like the goat cheese and tomato quiche or the Shenandoah valley apple and blue berry crisp. This informal market is similar to the Khalis market in Lahore or the Karachi Farmers’ market in Clifton. The atmosphere in DC is congenial, with a band playing country music on guitars. My children particularly love the woolen sweater stall because they can feed the sheep there while the owner, an old lady, explains the concept of how the coat of a sheep becomes a sweater.
In Lahore this month, I stumbled upon a similar market. The area around Delhi Gate and the walled city has been lovingly restored. In its vicinity is a farmers’ market which epitomises the sights and smells of our city. The pavements are lined with merchants with piles of fresh water fish - mostly the plump rahu. One can choose to have it filleted for pan frying or curries. After filleting it deftly, the local fish merchant covered the fish with fresh rock salt and tart lemons or nimboos. He advised us to marinate it for a few hours and then pan-fry it in olive oil with fresh herbs.
After discussing how wonderful this market with these two authors, we decided to revisit these old streets in and around the Walled City together. Mounds of fresh produce looked mouthwatering and beautiful - particularly as one can appreciate the seasonality of the vegetables. Exploring the market with Madhur and Anissa was an enthralling experience. They had a delightful curiosity about the food, its taste and origin. We discussed the seasonality of the fresh fruit with the vendors, for example the kachnar (the flower of an orchid tree) which is plucked before blossoming and then prepared as a spring dish. The Partition of 1947 has had long-lasting effects even on food. On the Indian side, Madhur explained that kachnar is cooked by itself while on the Pakistani side, we shared that it is cooked with meat.
The author (centre) with Madhur Jaffery and Anissa Helou (left)
In the vicinity of Delhi Gate is a farmers' market which epitomises the sights and smells of Lahore
In that market, I found myself looking at my home-city through a foreigner’s eyes, and appreciating afresh what unaffected desi hospitality is. The street vendors were so open and generous not only with their food but also in explaining how it was made and where the produce was from. We chatted with a young naan vendor outside the Wazir Khan mosque who refused to be paid and gave us the hottest naans, fresh out of his oven. Our group literally broke bread together while we wandered around the old city streets.
Outside the restored Shahi Hammam, we tasted local murrabas or candied preserves made from apples, lemons and carrots. The vendors explained that murraba is an Arabic word which refers also to sweet and savoury preserves. A few steps further, we were assailed by mounds of throat-catching pungent spices - fiery red chilli powder and fresh yellow haldi or turmeric. It was as exotic as the markets of Middle Eastern souks or downtown Damascus or Marrakech that I have wandered in on my own. The Lahori shopkeepers responded to our curiosity by encouraging us to try each succulent fruit or vegetable. On the way back, we shared fresh kinoos or mandarin oranges. Such joy comes simply from talking about food, sharing it and tasting it in company.
On that sunny afternoon, as we travelled together through the market, we felt that we were at a juncture of the ancient Spice Route. The same spices, fruits and vegetables have been used for centuries and in different countries, be it lentil soup in the Levant or dal in South Asia or succulent kebabs and pulaos. The spices may be used in differing quantities or blended differently but they serve the same purpose - to make your meal appetising and distinctive.
In our panel, Anissa and I discussed how cooking in the Middle East world is more than about food: it is about inclusive hospitality, for isn’t food in every family the twin sister to hospitality?
