Consider This from NPR - Iconic Indian-American Chef Reflects On His Life And The Healing Power Of Food

Episode Date: March 1, 2023

Raghavan Iyer built his career helping Americans get to know the fundamentals of Indian cooking. Now, after years of treatment for aggressive cancer, he has released what he says will be his last book. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks to Raghavan Iyer, about the book, "On The Curry Trail: Chasing the Flavor That Seduced the World." In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

There are certain people who can take credit for helping Americans get to know a particular cuisine. For French food, Julia Child. I can fall and omelets can go all over the stove. I'm going to learn. I shall overcome. It's sort of woman's liberation. I mean, everything like that. If you're not going to be ready to fail, you're not going to learn how to cook. For Italian food, Marcella Hazan.

Saporire, sapore, it means taste in Italian. And in saporire, it means to make things tasty. And that is very important, how to make and what to do and why you do it. Well, for many years, Raghavan Iyer has been one of the people who played that role for Indian food in the U.S. With seven cookbooks and a steady stream of TV appearances, he's taught countless people the fundamentals of Indian cooking. Here he was on All Things Considered a decade ago. To me, that's the hallmark of Indian cooking is how you could extract a multitude of flavors by using really one or

two ingredients, and you can end up with something that really sings in your mouth. Consider this. From his home in Minnesota, Raghavan Iyer has become an icon of Indian cooking. Now, after years of treatment for aggressive cancer, he has released what he says will be his last book, his reflections on food and his legacy after the break. From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro. Send, spend, or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the Wise app today or visit wise.com. T's and C's apply.

It's Consider This from NPR. What is curry? That's a question that Raghavan Iyer has spent decades trying to answer for us. I always say defining curry is like trying to pick up fallen mercury. In India, the subcontinent, curry is not a flavor. It's an entity. Curry is a dish. They usually are saucy, and they have a gravy to it. If it doesn't have any of those components, it's usually not a curry. His new book is called On the Curry Trail, Chasing the Flavor That Seduced the World. Through 50 recipes, the book documents what happened when curry spread to countries and cultures around the globe. I'm having done the research of the book, and it just blew my mind,

really, the far-reaching quality of what a colonial empire like the English could do and then adapt it. As you know, they're penchant for flavors. Had their cooks put together a cornucopia of flavors that they put them into a jar and labeled it as curry powder. But it really wasn't until the introduction of the Indian laborers that were brought in as slaves and as indentured servants eventually, that that's what led sort of the push into the world of recognizing curries and how to use curry powders because, as you know,

we don't use curry powders in India, but we do use it in the world. Yeah. This book is complicated to talk about because Raghav and I, you've written many cookbooks and produced many television programs, and you say that this book will be your last. Are you comfortable talking about why? Yeah, yeah. About five years ago, I was diagnosed with stage four cancer, colorectal cancer. So make sure your listeners get themselves checked because it's so important. And I, you know, that changed completely the way I functioned. I mean, you know, you, it's like somebody pulled a rug under you and all of a sudden you're wondering how to deal with something like that. And once you figure that out, then you start to figure out

how you learn to live again and eat again and cook again. And to me, those are all cathartic in nature. And so if I don't have control over my kitchen, I don't have control over my life. So that food becomes a very essential tool to bring that home. You said that your diagnosis came more than four years ago. And I understand many people with your type of cancer do not live as long as you have. Nope. And I find myself fortunate in that. It's been five years and yeah, never would have imagined, you know. And so I've had

metastases to the lungs and the brain and the brain ones are clear for now, but the lungs are not. So it is, yeah, it is something that you live with. And I guess, you know, time takes its toll on everybody. And this experience you've had with sickness and treatment helped launch a new project focused on comfort foods and recovery foods. Can you tell us about that? Yeah, I call it Revival Foods, comfort foods that heal, because you look at cultures that inherently have foods that the West has not embraced in terms of its medicinal outreach. I'm looking at dishes like pho, for instance, from Vietnam.

Vietnamese beef noodle soup, yeah. And then you look at, you know, rasam, for instance, which is the tamarind brothy dish from southern India. And so all of these, I feel, are such important tools in fighting this regiment that we have in a body that's regulated by disease. And so I feel like it is one of those best things you can armor yourself with. I don't want you to publicly shame a medical professional, but what was the food a doctor told you to eat as you were recovering that made you say, are you kidding me? You're a medical expert. He came from a good place and he said, you know, how about tomato soup? And so it's funny. So when I called the hospital cafeteria, which has gone awful, and I ordered tomato soup and I'm a vegetarian, so I said,

can you tell me if the soup is vegetarian-based? And she goes, hang on, let me take a look at the Campbell's soup can. The Campbell's soup can. Yeah. It's like, oh my God, I'm in it. And meanwhile, what was the recovery food that you were really craving? Idlis, foods from my childhood, which is steamed fermented rice lentil cakes. And those are comforting, and they put on weight, and just easy to digest. And I just love it. and it became one of those iconic foods that helped me recover at least 20 of the 30 pounds that I lost. Do you want to take a moment, or are you all right? Do you want to get a drink of water? Okay. Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. If we could come back to the book on the curry trail for a moment, would you mind reading the dedication for us? Yeah, obviously I don't have the book on the curry trail for a moment. Would you mind reading the dedication for

us? Yeah, loosely. I don't have the book in front of me, but I dedicated it to my partner of 41 years, Terry, without whom this book would never have been possible. My life wouldn't have been possible. He's literally been there by my side, you know, sort of making sure I eat well, I eat right. He's an excellent caregiver. So that's been, you know, a source of surprise in many ways, you know. And so, I have, yeah, I'm very fortunate. Am I correct that you met him on your first day in the United States? Yes. I was 21, and I looked like I was 14.

So, I'm so sorry. No, I'm— He has been really a beacon, and so I've been very pleased with how things have turned out. And it's almost like you know what it's like in a relationship when you turn around and realize that, oh, the partner's still there. He hasn't left, you know. Which is, I guess that's what they mean by in sickness and in health. Yeah.

You know, we often talk about icons and their legacy after they have passed. And you are in this really unusual kind of extraordinary position of doing a book tour for this one great work and talking about a lifetime of great work and knowing that this is in some way your final chapter. And so have you thought about the way that you would like people to remember you and think about you and talk about you when you're no longer with us? Yeah, it's an interesting question because I sort of did a weird little experiment one of the days I was down and out. And on my Facebook status, I asked people, I said, what would my one-line obituary be? And I was just shocked as to how people responded in terms of support and, you know, and the impact that I have had in the food world and in the food in the world of Indian cooking,

that I knew, you know, cursorily in my mind that, yeah, I have had an impact, but I didn't realize the depth of it and the level of it. And that really sort of shook me to my core in terms of understanding, in terms of coming to terms that, oh, wow, maybe there is something here that I overlooked. So that was really quite an eye-opener. What a gift. Is there one that you can share with us? Yeah. Yeah, I think the one that resonates, but always has, is you haven't just changed Indian food for me, you've changed the way I cook. And to me, that is the greatest gift you can give another teacher.

Because that's what it boils down to, is how we are able to take the tools we have been given to us and turn them into teaching trades. And I feel like I've had that opportunity. Well, this is a question that I've never asked a guest in 20 years of doing interviews, and I hope you don't take it the wrong way. But as someone who has built his life around food and who sees the end approaching, have you decided what you want served at your funeral? Yes. You have.

What's the menu? Oh, guys, all Bobby Street foods. Foods that I grew up with and foods of my childhood. Can you tell us a few things that are on the menu you've drawn up? One is a street food that it's comfort food in a way. I always call it an adult savory cereal. It's rice puffs and crispy chickpea flour noodles with unripe mango and potatoes and black salt. And I've got another one, which is like a potato pate with vegetables on a slice of bread, which is then slathered on with a ton of butter and you pan fry the bread slices in them, you know.

Ari, you know you're making me hungry. Well, I can think of no better tribute for you than for people to eat well and think of you while they do it. Well, thank you so much. Well, Raghavan Iyer, thank you for all you've taught us. Oh, it's a pleasure talking with you. So thank you again. His latest book is On the Curry Trail, Chasing the Flavor That Seduced the World. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Ari Shapiro.