Branding Cuisine?

When I was asked to write for the office blog (on any topic, mind you),  I immediately thought of food. To which came the immediate response that it should be about ‘brands’ or ‘branding’…. notwithstanding these words of advice, I continued.

Last Sunday, my husband and I were lunch guests at a very dear and a true Malayalee (I refuse to say Keralite. It’s just too propah for my liking) friend’s place.

Fried Prawns (Chemmeen Porichathu)

We began snacking on fried prawns and drinking some good Chilean wine. Yes, you read it right – Chilean wine. And you know what – they paired very well indeed.












Then got on gorging on some delicious fried Karimeen (Pearlspot) and continued to drink .

 Fried Pearl Spot (Karimeen Varutathu)

And a little later, the lunch table was laid out in full splendor with puttus, steamed rice, Kerala style dal, beans poriyal and some fabulous chicken curry. I had never (over) eaten to this extent in a very long time. The entire experience was very nostalgic as it bought back many memories of my childhood.

Chicken Curry (Kozhi Varutarachathu)

Kerala Dal (Parippu)

Beand Poriyal

Puttu

Rosematta Rice

And then came the thought – how can food like this can be branded?

Be it Bengali, Oriya, Assamese or Malyalee or from any state in India, the choice of food in each of the cuisine is so vast that it cannot be clubbed together.

And it is therefore, that we categorize it by region - is this not a step towards branding?

Or does branding always have to involve a specific name or ‘identity’ and therefore a ‘logo’; ‘packaging’ design, the container or ‘structure’ that will hold the product?

For me it’s also about the experience. What is it for you?





Suma Joshi
V.P - Creative Services
DY Works