By
Shevlin Sebastian
Photos by Albin Mathew
At
1.30 p.m., on a rainy Monday, tribal chef Baiju Vasudevan is
standing on a rock, with a dead fish in his hand. The monsoon rain
is falling steadily. In the background is the gushing
Athirapally waterfalls
in Kerala. The roar can be heard all around. Just next to him is the
fast-moving and swollen Chalakudy river.
Baiju
takes a knife, gets down on his haunches, and swiftly takes the
scales off. Thereafter, he rubs the masala – a mix of coriander,
turmeric and chilli powder – all over the fish. He chops up the
fish, as well as the tapioca, onions and tomato into small pieces.
Then
Baiju runs towards a bamboo grove nearby. Quickly, he pulls down a
bamboo, and cuts it into three smaller ones. All the food material
is stuffed into the hollow stem of the bamboo. A couple of leaves
are used to cover the open ends. Since the rain has not ceased,
Baiju hangs up a tarpaulin sheet by tying the ends to the branches
of a nearby tree. Then he puts pieces of wood and coal in a circle,
pours a bit of coconut oil, and lights it. Once the fire starts
burning, he places the bamboo tubes in it.
“It
is at this moment that the Adivasi tribals sing a song,” says
Baiju. “When the song ends five to seven minutes later, the food
is cooked.”
Tribal
food hit the media spotlight during the shooting of Mani Ratnam’s
'Raavan' in August, 2009, at the Athirapally Waterfalls.
The stars of the film, Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan, were staying
at the nearby Rainforest resort, where Baiju was providing the
tribal food.
“I
removed all the bones and made a fish preparation,” says Baiju.
“Aishwarya liked it. Then Abhishek also tasted the food, which
included chicken, and he also enjoyed it. For the next few nights,
they continued to eat my food, at dinner-time. After a while, they
began to call me ‘Bamboo Baiju’.”
Later,
when the celebrity couple left, Aishwarya wrote in the visitors'
book: ‘Thank you Baiju. Wonderful dinners. Will never forget.’
It
has been an astonishing and improbable journey for Baiju, who looks
like a cross between a rock star and a prophet: shoulder-length
hair, a long beard, bare-bodied, with a rudraksha necklace, and a
black scarf, as well as sandal paste on his forehead. He grew up in
the hills near the Athirapally waterfalls. From a young
age, he would wander about in the forests. He learnt cooking by
watching his father, who would cook for weddings and family
celebrations.
But
he got the best tips about tribal cooking from an elder called
Kunchu Isho of the Kadar community. “He told me that you can make
a hole in the ground, place the food inside leaves, cover the hole
and then put a fire on it,” says Baiju. “After a few minutes,
the food is ready.” It usually consists of tapioca, honey and
fish.
Baiju’s
life changed, when, one day, in 2005, he saw a car parked near a
forest. So he walked up to the driver and asked whether he needed
any help. “Yes,” said OC Thomas, the owner of Rainforest. “I
want to see the jungle.” So Baiju took him on a tour, and
impressed Thomas with his encyclopaedic knowledge of the trees,
birds and animals. Later, Thomas hired him as a guide for the hotel
guests.
And
it was on another trip with Thomas and his wife that Baiju cooked a
meal for them, using ingredients which he collected from a nearby
tribal colony. “There was a unique taste,” says Thomas. “I
believe that some of the bamboo flavour seeps into the food.”
Later, Thomas asked Baiju to provide tribal food for the resorts'
guests. And that led to the fateful meeting with the Bachchans.
Today,
Baiju is part of a resort called Chedi Spring Valley. He is also a
competent snake-catcher, and an actor. He has finished the shoot for
a Malayalam film, called '168 Hours'. “But cooking is my first
love,” he says, with a smile.
(Sunday
Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)
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