Mallika Basu: Food, Memory & Meaning

For this episode of A Curious Appetite, I speak with food writer Mallika Basu about curry, food culture, migration, and the loaded question of authenticity.Mallika recently came to speak with my California university students at the London campus, and I still remember how their minds were blown by the way she explained complex histories of migration, empire, and identity through food. She has an extraordinary ability to make difficult histories feel understandable and, quite literally, more digestible.In this episode we talk about curry as a British phenomenon, the politics of naming and ownership, why food can provoke such strong emotions, and how recipes can carry meaning even when they do not have a single point of origin. We also discuss her latest book In Good Taste, which explores what shapes what we eat and drink and why it matters.One line that stayed with me from our conversation:“Recipes don’t have IP, but they have meaning.”There is also mango, biryani, childhood memory, and the complicated onion that is the modern food system.Listen to the episode on A Curious Appetite.Read more on Substack:https://substack.com/@dralessandrapinoArtwork: @medusazzzAudio: @thedeliciouslegacyMusic: @manu_pino_1111A Curious Appetite is a reader-supported podcast and publication.Subscribe on Substack to receive new essays and episodes.Please follow this show on Spotify. It really helps!Useful Links & Works MentionedBooks by Mallika BasuIn Good Taste: What Shapes What We Eat and Drink – and Why It Matters (2026)Masala: Indian Cooking for Modern Living (2018)Miss Masala: A Stylish Indian Cookbook for Effortless Ethnic Cooking and Modern Living (2010)Literary References & Historical ContextCollingham, Lizzie. Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.Dickson Wright, Clarissa. A History of English Food. London: Random House, 2011.Glasse, Hannah. The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. 1803.Huxley, Aldous. Jesting Pilate. 1926.Panayi, Panikos. Migrant City: A New History of London. 2020.Panayi, Panikos. Spicing Up Britain. 1995.Sukhadwala, Sejal. The Philosophy of Curry. 2023.Empire Podcast – “Inventing Curry: The British Taste for India”Empire (BBC / Open University, 2012)Episode 1 – A Taste for PowerEpisode 2 – Making Ourselves at HomeEpisode 3 – Playing the GameEpisode 4 – Making a FortuneEpisode 5 – Doing Good