{"product_id":"in-the-beginning-there-was-pronoti-datta-9789363364974","title":"In the Beginning there was Bombay Duck - A Food History of Mumbai","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Just what we needed. The first comprehensive history of dining in\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMumbai\/Bombay, India's food capital.'-Vir Sanghvi\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the Kolis, who have been fishing in the city's waters since much before\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003erecorded history, and early settlers such as the Pathare Prabhus, to the people\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewho poured into the developing city in the centuries of British rule and those, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003elike the Sindhis, who found a safe haven here during Partition, this is the first\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etruly comprehensive food history of India's great metropolis.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe city's nativists like to champion what they consider 'original cultures'.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut originality resides in the Mumbaikar's inventive impulse, a quality\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eencapsulated in the nativist's favourite food, the vada pao: Were it not for\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe Portuguese, who transported the potato or batata to Bombay, and taught\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe Goans the art of baking bread, or pao, the vada pao may never have been\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003econceived!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCelebrating this rich diversity of cultures and cuisines, this book covers\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emigrants from the Kanara coast, who gave the city the Udipi restaurant;\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eParsis, who introduced diners to Persian and Gujarati-inflected dishes, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand their Irani brethren, who served this food in their iconic cafes; and the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emyriad Muslim communities that made the old neighbourhood of Bhendi\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBazaar a gastronome's place of pilgrimage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBombay Duck is a rigorously researched, delightfully anecdotal history of food\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ein Bombay\/Mumbai that is as colourful and cosmopolitan as the city itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Pronoti Datta\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 9363364976\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9789363364974\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Speaking Tiger Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/25\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 362\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.07lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.81d","brand":"Pronoti Datta","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48176163094783,"sku":"9789363364974","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_bd7682bf-5e96-4420-ad8e-1da0687226ab.jpg?v=1771336775","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/in-the-beginning-there-was-pronoti-datta-9789363364974","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}