Around the world if you notice, every culture spreads by using people's taste buds as canvases. When you say "chinese", you first think of chinese food - noodles and rice, then comes The Great Wall, Red Communism etc. When you think of Punjabi, well, here turbans might come first, but punjabi dishes are not far behind.
Talking about marathi culture, I am a maharashtrian and I have been around whole India and around the world in last 15 years. And one thing was clear - I can't spot a maharastrian in a crowd! Let me explain - Marathi people somehow lose their identity when they migrate. Rather, they merge with the locals so well, that they slowly get detached from their roots. (to some extent it happened to me as well after marrying a tamilian :-) ) So what is it that non-marathi people identify marathi people with, outside maharastra? Is it language? No, unlike tamilians or punjabis, two marathi people will start conversations either in Hindi or English. Is it Ajanta? No, its just a typical Indian restaurant name in US :-) So is it food? Well, how many places have you heard of where you get marathi food? Many think Maharashtrians only eat vada-pav and pav-bhaji at home - three times a day!
Me and my friends started this new concept - "The Peshwa Restaurant - Authentic Maharashtrian Cuisine" to do our bit in spreading marathi cuisine outside Maharashtra. We are trying to bring together best recipes from across Maharashtra right from Pune and Vidarbha and Kolhapur and Khandesh. There is Kolhapuri misal, Khandeshi Bharit, Gavran Bhakri, Festive Puran Poli and lots of other dishes.
But unlike other types of cuisines, there is no well-established pattern that we can follow when it comes to marathi cuisine. There are no standard items, there is no standard menu, there are no packagable combinations. So "The Peshwa" is coming up with unique options which will bring out the best marathi food to people. Since its a first in many ways than one, there will be some stumbling and hence some learnings along the way. We would really appreciate all the feedback and inputs that we can get from everyone. Thanks!
Mangesh
