Meeting My Foodie Friends During Lockdown On Social Media

 During this pandemic, life would have been very depressing if there were no technology to connect with outer world. I cannot imagine what my life would be? I would read books, yes, or sometimes sit by the window side and watch the skies (and the rains) but what else would I do.?  Luckily, food has been plenty, and cooking has been one activity that has kept all of us occupied and how!!

 Everybody has been innovative in creating dishes, some of them improving on their cooking skills and some learning new skills.

 

My most favourite activityon social media is picking out strands of knowledge from every field. I love watching my friends (on social media) who share their wealth of food knowledge and that has been very rewarding for me. From the comfort of my home, I have been able to catch some Instagram Live broadcast.

 

My foodie friends are really very talented and they have been my companions during this lockdown. I see them everyday, live on Instagram, and catch up on latest trends whenever I have some free moments to spare. On normal days (that is when we lived in a normal confused world) I would meet them only during food events but now, I can meet whenever I wish. I have learnt a lot during these five months in isolation, which actually is not an isolation at all. I am wiser now!

 

Although there are many live events happening everyday on various fields like art, poetry, travel, etc. but today I will talk only about the live broadcast by my foodie friends whom I follow on Instagram.

 

My favourite from this food world is this lovely couple Sam and Saloni Malkani, the founders of TheFBAI  (a social platform for food and everything related to it).. Both are ardent foodies and love to connect with everything food, drink and hospitality. Meeting them is a blessing for me because they have introduced to the inner circle of food industry.

 

 

Sam Malkani has great variety of  discussion on #InstaLive  covering different food topics. Each time I visit his page, there are different kind of topics he is covering, sometimes he is interviewing entrepreneurs, sometimes he is on food quiz shows, sometimes live cooking demos and sometimes a deeper knowledge on products available during pandemic.

 

 

Saloni Malkani is very caring friend and most influential person in food industry. I admire her for her warmth and in cementing everybody together. Last year she created a storm with her partner, Chef Ananya Banerjee by starting Wild Asparagus Table, (a potluck on international cooking) and this got me interested in different cuisines and cultures of the world.

 

Their very latest Newspepper is creating waves on social media.

 

 

ChefAnanya Banerjee  is very glamorous and talented person. Between food and being Chef, she is also a traveller, food curator, food consultant and ex-editor of #BBCGoodFoodIndia  She interviews Homechefs around the globe on #Instalive  (twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays) giving us the insight on the homechefs’ life in general, their cooking methods, the utensils they use in their kitchen and much more.

 

 

I met Inderpreet Nagpal  at  Wild Asperagus Table, an SriLankan potluck organised at her own home at Vesova and was completely awed by her talents in cooking, art world and gardening. Inderpreet Nagpal of Rummy’s Kitchen is a multi-talented homechef who can develop a recipe with any ingredients.  Twice a week (Mondays and Fridays), she comes #Instalive to chat with foodies, where she discusses one particular ingredient with different participants and then she comes back with most exotic recipes.

 

 

 I met Rushina Munshaw first time at one food demo at Nature’s Basket some ten years ago and there is no looking back. I have learnt a lot from Rushina and she was the one who counselled me to get a food blog (Papadchai) if I was really serious about writing on food.  Rushina is a culinary expert, is very knowledgeable about ingredients, cuisines and history of food. Catch her on #Instalive at 11am everyday on her series on #SpiceChroniclesWithRMG where she is exploring the different spices used in different regions of India.

 

 

During one of events organised by Rushina for Women’s Day, I met Shubra Chatterji,  a very friendly and amiable person. She is an award-winning filmmaker and enjoys travelling and documenting Indian Culture and Heritage and in particular the vast Culinary Cultures of India, via travel-based non-fiction programming, visual essays, articles and curatorial projects. Shubhra, (known as Historywali) currently hosts an Instagram LIVE series, History On A Plate, which started off as a Lockdown passion-project but has gained quite a bit of eyeballs, and media coverage.

 

 

Kurush Dalal  is the most interesting person I have met, He is loaded with food knowledge folded under his charm of humour and stories.  Kurush is an archeologist by profession, also an historian, food anthropologist, culinary expert and a very friendly person. You can watch his #InstaLive everyday and listen to his stories on #Knowyourprotiens. You can also watch his recorded IGTV on A to Z series of ingredients, that he completed some time ago, where he spoke in details about all the ingredients found in the kitchen.

 

 

I met Kalyan Karmakar during one of his organised food trails (around Mohammed Ali road, a place that he calls as cultural unifier) and I had a great conversation on our drive back in his car. Kalyan is very well verse with food culture of Mumbai and is a good conversationalist. He has won the title of best food blogger three years in a row, and is very popular. You can watch his #instalive under the handle of  #Thefinelychopped where he talks to entrepreneurs of food industry about how they started their food biz and how do they go about with their business during these rough times of pandemic. A very interesting talk indeed!!

 

 

Who doesn’t know Amrita? She is Social media celebrity, was known for her OMG Bacon Jam which she stopped making after she turned vegetarian. I have met Amrita Kaur several times during food meetings.  She has wealth of food knowledge, specializes in Ayurveda nutrition. You can watch her #Instalive under handle #Amritaforlife where she discusses different interesting aspects of food, nutrition value, recipes and healthy eating habits.

 

 

There is wealth of knowledge on #Instalive and the best part it that it is possible to see the recorded version at IGTV (if you missed live sessions), which are equally good although you might miss the live conversation of the people who were watching that discussion at that time. I am interested in watching all sessions but sometimes I am unable to watch it live because of my first commitment  towards my #Specialchildren of my SBP, school for PWID. Special children need be kept occupied or else they will have behavior issues, so with the help of my staff and the parents of special children, we have been experimenting different methods to keep children busy too and I am glad that I could help them in some way.

During this pandemic my #SindhiCuisine book also went viral on Watsapp, travelling around the world (where I personally have never visited those places), and I was getting call from most remote places around the globe,  (I am told) many of them felt that my book is the treasure of sindhi cuisine and many have learnt to cook simple food, specially the beginners. Well, I was glad of that.  

 

But whenever I get time, I turn to IGTV to pick the missed sessions of #Instalive. It certainly is more interesting than watching those depressing news on TV or some series on Netflix or on Prime Videos….

 

And why not….Food is my passion too!!