In her book Eating India: Exploring a Nation’s Cuisine, Boston-based food writer, Chitrita Banerji, roams India in a quest for authentic Indian food. REVIEW Deputy Editor Colum Murphy spoke with Ms. Banerji at a book launch at Crosswords bookstore in Kolkata on 12 Feb. 2008.

Note: This book was first published in the United States by Bloomsbury Press in July 2007. It will appear on 18 Feb. 2008 in the United Kingdom also by Bloomsbury.

Q: What inspired you to write this book?

A: What inspired me were questions in my own head. I felt that I had been too hung up on notions of regionalism and authenticity. And I felt that in today’s world it was not such a relevant question anymore. I wanted to explore whether it had lost its relevance a long time ago and that I had missed it. And I came away with the realization that authenticity is always a very dubious and iffy concept, and my travels to India made me feel that more and more.

Q: Tell us more about the journey. Where did you go?

A: I made many trips. I made about four or five different trips over a period of four years. I would do some traveling and then go back again [to the U.S.] and think, and then come and travel some more. I chose areas where I felt had the most external influences had come in, so the coasts of India were very important to me.

I felt the difference between India and America very also strong. I live in America, I am from India and both countries are immigrant nations.

I went of course to Calcutta, my starting point, and a lot of areas the west coast: Bombay, and Goa, and Kochin. I meant to go to Madras but I was unable to because an accident happened and I just couldn’t make it.

Q. What makes Indian food special?

A: That’s a very good question [laughs]. I think probably the most distinctive thing about Indian food is the desire to transform food with spice. No other cuisine probably does it to that extent, and that’s what sets it apart. There are many ways to make delicious food, but India is perhaps the master, or the mistress, of spices.

Q: In the course of your journey, did you discover a favorite dish? Or a least favorite dish?

A: That is a question which is almost impossible to answer, because I almost enjoyed everything I ate, I hate to admit [laughs]. I can’t pin point a particular dish.

Q: What can foreign readers take away from reading this book?

A: I hope they take away a great desire to learn more about India—not just food. But India’s culture, India’s history and India’s role in the modern world. This is a global age, I think that it’s a crucial time for many other countries to know India better.

Q: Is globalization changing Indian food?

A: It certainly is. I think you know the newer elements are being grasped and internalized with incredible rapidity. The new elements being the new ways of cooking, fast food is coming in, eating out has really entered the life of ordinary people, not just the people with money.

Traditional recipes are also undergoing a lot of changes and being synthesized with outside elements. For those that cook there is a greater feel to experiment, to incorporate larger parts of the world into their own kitchens, which is a very interesting thing that is happening. I think it is a good thing. I love experimentation.

Q: Apart from Indian food, what Asian food do you enjoy eating?

A: I am a real fan of Southeast Asian food. I love Thai food, Indonesian food, Lao food, Vietnamese food – all of these I love. And what little I have eaten of Burmese food I absolutely loved.