Apples need no introduction. Alas, Aappams do. Aappam is a breakfast staple in the southern tip of India and is presently having a dream run amongst the younger crowd. Aappam is a sort of a thin crepe made with rice-based batter. It is made by pouring the batter inside a wok and twirling the latter such that the batter sticks to the sides in a thin film. The French call it an Indian Crepe although Crepe should be French Aappam. The fact is that they stole the idea from us - including the twirl - when they were in Pondicherry.
The people from the north of India are generally starved of good, light, tasty food and are partial to greasy, heavy stuff until they discovered a world of southern cuisine beyond Dosas. The French did not steal the last-named from us mainly because they could not distinguish a flat, two-dimensional Dosa from a three dimensional Aappam which takes the shape of the wok in which it is made. Too much wine in tropics does that to you.
There was a significant influx of young northerners into Chennai from the early part of this century, thanks to the general lawlessness up north and the lucrative jobs available in the IT sector here. These hordes pouring into Chennai met good food for the first time resulting in long-forgotten traditional south Indian cuisine being dug up and served. New-found popularity of Aappam is the result of this collision of northern deprivation with southern culinary tradition.
When I was in school Aappams were identified with the Anglo-Indian community. So much so that they were derogatorily referred to as "Aaps", short for "Appams". This was in reference to their habit of not admitting to eating aappams for breakfast, claiming instead that they had "ham and bacon". We never tired of asking what those boys had for breakfast and the answer would be anything English, but an aappam. The Tamils too ate aappams for breakfast or dinner but were not chary of admitting it. Many an Anglo Indian was raised on good old fashioned aappams and stew until they all upped and went "home" to Australia. My neighbour's mother was an exception and went to Sidcup near London where she assiduously avoided the sun (lest she tanned which would be like returning to her old life) and avoided any references to her early life in India. Apparently Anglo Indians and aappams did not mix.
Aappam is having a second wind, so to speak. It is all the rage in Chennai now. The restaurants in the Taj hotel group serve aappams but then they cost you an arm and a leg there. Besides their gravies are limited to a watery and weak stew. For a robust "ishtew" with spices and pungency you've got to try aappams from the numerous small aappam shops in Chennai. They serve a variety of aappams for the vegans, the vegetarians, and for those who like their meat in various forms and flavours. These establishments, often likened to holes in the wall, display considerable knowledge of marketing principles and bring consumers' latent wants out into the open and then satisfy them but not before converting the wants into needs. Kotler himself couldn't have done it better.
There is a chain of establishments in Chennai devoted to the humble aappam. The chain is named after a mythological figure who was reportedly a wizard in the kitchen. You could avail of a huge variety of aappams and an even wider array of sauces to go with them. What amazes me more than the sheer range of aappams and stews is the process of ordering them. A young lady, usually from the North eastern part of India, takes your orders on an Apple iPod and wirelessly sends it off to the kitchen for execution. In the background the consumption of raw material is reconciled with the orders and the day's take at the cash till. It's all accomplished by a so-called "app" running on the Apple device. A happy and unique marriage of traditional food with modern marketing panache and Information technology.
Jargon has it that apples and oranges don't mix.
Evidently Apple and Aappams do.
The people from the north of India are generally starved of good, light, tasty food and are partial to greasy, heavy stuff until they discovered a world of southern cuisine beyond Dosas. The French did not steal the last-named from us mainly because they could not distinguish a flat, two-dimensional Dosa from a three dimensional Aappam which takes the shape of the wok in which it is made. Too much wine in tropics does that to you.
There was a significant influx of young northerners into Chennai from the early part of this century, thanks to the general lawlessness up north and the lucrative jobs available in the IT sector here. These hordes pouring into Chennai met good food for the first time resulting in long-forgotten traditional south Indian cuisine being dug up and served. New-found popularity of Aappam is the result of this collision of northern deprivation with southern culinary tradition.
When I was in school Aappams were identified with the Anglo-Indian community. So much so that they were derogatorily referred to as "Aaps", short for "Appams". This was in reference to their habit of not admitting to eating aappams for breakfast, claiming instead that they had "ham and bacon". We never tired of asking what those boys had for breakfast and the answer would be anything English, but an aappam. The Tamils too ate aappams for breakfast or dinner but were not chary of admitting it. Many an Anglo Indian was raised on good old fashioned aappams and stew until they all upped and went "home" to Australia. My neighbour's mother was an exception and went to Sidcup near London where she assiduously avoided the sun (lest she tanned which would be like returning to her old life) and avoided any references to her early life in India. Apparently Anglo Indians and aappams did not mix.
Aappam is having a second wind, so to speak. It is all the rage in Chennai now. The restaurants in the Taj hotel group serve aappams but then they cost you an arm and a leg there. Besides their gravies are limited to a watery and weak stew. For a robust "ishtew" with spices and pungency you've got to try aappams from the numerous small aappam shops in Chennai. They serve a variety of aappams for the vegans, the vegetarians, and for those who like their meat in various forms and flavours. These establishments, often likened to holes in the wall, display considerable knowledge of marketing principles and bring consumers' latent wants out into the open and then satisfy them but not before converting the wants into needs. Kotler himself couldn't have done it better.
There is a chain of establishments in Chennai devoted to the humble aappam. The chain is named after a mythological figure who was reportedly a wizard in the kitchen. You could avail of a huge variety of aappams and an even wider array of sauces to go with them. What amazes me more than the sheer range of aappams and stews is the process of ordering them. A young lady, usually from the North eastern part of India, takes your orders on an Apple iPod and wirelessly sends it off to the kitchen for execution. In the background the consumption of raw material is reconciled with the orders and the day's take at the cash till. It's all accomplished by a so-called "app" running on the Apple device. A happy and unique marriage of traditional food with modern marketing panache and Information technology.
Jargon has it that apples and oranges don't mix.
Evidently Apple and Aappams do.
