#We join together here today full

Whether it be “blooming” whole spices in oil, or setting a pot full of basmati rice and water on the stove for 15 minutes before turning on the heat to produce a “fluffier result,” taking the time to make sure individual ingredients shine is worth it. Many of his recipes call for small extra steps that ultimately produce a more tasty dish. You can tell flipping through the pages of this cookbook that Bhatt has a deep respect for food. To use “I Am From Here” is to rediscover cooking. It was flavored just like a traditional apple pie, but substituted the fruit with fresh unripe green tomatoes. The surprising star of the meal was dessert, Mr. I settled on Stewed Gujarati-Style Black Eyed Peas, Spicy Potato Mash, Not Your Mama’s Cornbread, and Kashimiri-Style Collards (Haaq). Before our interview, I set out to make a vegetable plate like you’d find at meat-and-three restaurants across Mississippi, but with dishes from his book. My main takeaway from “I Am From Here,” is that food is not static, something Bhatt reminded me of when we spoke. Yeah, I moved here from somewhere else, but I’m here now.”

“The idea that after living here for so long, I still have to answer the question, ‘Where are you from?’ And then, you know, I say I’m from Oxford, and then the follow up question is ‘No, where are you really from?’ So that’s why the title, if that makes sense. This is the place where people come and eat what I cooked, and it is the South and so therefore, I’m a Southern chef,” Bhatt told Mississippi Today. “This is the place that influences what I do.

We join together here today