Truth be told, although I like to brand myself as a food sociologist, I rarely watch MasterChef. I cannot really pinpoint the exact reason for the same. But this time, as I sat down to write this piece, I binge-watched almost all the episodes of the 7th season of MasterChef.
This was prompted by a conversation that I had with my colleagues, followed by my mother very proudly telling me on the phone that someone from Assam has won the crown of the MasterChef.
For me, it was an iconic moment because, for years, food from the North-East (including Assam) has rarely found representation in the national platform. Sociologists and social anthropologists have in fact extensively theorized on how food from the region has been historically excluded from ideas of what represents ‘national’ or ‘Indian’ cuisine. Therefore, to actually have two people from Assam – Nayanjyoti Saikia (the winner) and Santa Sharma (runner-up) – not only compete but go to the final rounds of the show is historical.
Some people put up social media posts celebrating these victories as their own. One moment from the show that has particularly become popular on social media is when chef Ranveer Brar says that ‘India had come to the show, but now only Assam remains’ before declaring the results. In fact, this visibility made people like me and my mother who do not watch MasterChef otherwise take notice.
So, what made this season’s MasterChef so special for the people of Assam? This is the question that I seek an answer to in this short essay. Since I came to Delhi almost fourteen years back, there have been significant changes in the way Assam is understood by non-Assamese.
People imagine the region in many ways – from thinking of it as a ‘jungle area’ to most recently an interviewer asking me ‘if I am interested in food because people eat everything in my state’. There are several stereotypes attached to the region, particularly its food and they are reflected in everyday conversations like the one stated above.
In the final episode of this season’s show, chef Ranveer Brar says that ‘North-East has the gift of fermentation’. This was in response to one of the dishes that Santa had cooked – fermented mustard and local greens. But as many migrants from the region will testify, it has been one of the reasons why they have been racially discriminated against in other parts of the country.
Most often, landlords refuse to rent them houses citing the reason that people from the North-East cook and eat fermented (to be read and understood as smelly, pungent and dirty) food. Thus, for a chef of Brar’s calibre to say that fermentation is a gift on national television is indeed iconic. Perhaps it can help in dispelling racist stereotypes that accompany food from the region.
Apart from fermentation, there are also several prejudices attached to non-vegetarian food in the country. Despite India being a largely non-vegetarian country, there are ideas of caste-based impurity that dictate how non-vegetarian food is understood. Be it in religious ceremonies or public functions, it is mostly avoided. Therefore, exceptions like Assam where non-vegetarian food is part of both religious and public ceremonies, are seen as anomalies. In this very season of MasterChef, one contestant Aruna Vijay refused to cook eggs as it was against her religious principles. In fact, this is not the first time that this has happened in MasterChef.
Therefore, both Nayanjyoti and Santa played a crucial role in ‘normalizing’ non-vegetarian cuisine in the show. There was regular use of meat (chicken, duck, mutton) and fish, with a particular emphasis on Assamese food items like maasor tenga (tangy fish curry), haah kumura (duck with ash gourd), different forms of pitika (mashed vegetables), etc.
Of course, it goes without saying that they were not cooked and presented in the way in which it is usually done in Assamese households. The dishes were given fine dining twists. For instance, the quintessential Assamese haah kumura was given a very unique twist and presented by Nayanjyoti in the season finale. Similarly, Santa cooked maasor tenga in a different style in one of the earlier episodes by giving it a baking turn. Similarly, in episode 11, she cooked an Assamese dish til murgi (sesame chicken) with South Korean flavour. Thus, there was a combination of the local with the national and the global. This is what made both of them popular with the judges.
Very often it is argued that food is a very crucial part of one’s social identity. And this season’s MasterChef became popular in Assam primarily because of how Assamese food was showcased in national media. Before making the til murgi that is cited above, Santa says that ‘the responsibility today is immense because it is the matter of her state’s pride’. The victory in MasterChef, therefore, I feel, cannot be seen in isolation.
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Currently, Assam and its culture have been receiving a lot of attention in the national sphere. The Assamese gamochai (stole), for instance, is seen to be worn by several leaders of national importance. There is also an attempt at creating a Guinness Record of the world’s largest bihu dance to be performed at the Sarusajai Athletics Stadium in Guwahati on 14th April 2023 by almost 11000 participants in the presence of the Prime Minister. As such, the entry of Assamese food into mainstream national television shows like MasterChef is a significant moment in creating and representing what an Assamese identity means. It is a testimonial of the renewed interest in Assam and its culture.
The author is a sociologist by training and teaches Sociology at Indraprastha College for Women (IPCW), University of Delhi. She is also one of the co-founders of Doing Sociology. Born and brought up in Assam, she has been living in Delhi for the last fourteen years. She takes a specific interest in anything related to food.
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