Chennai’s food artists

Food historian Rakesh Raghunathan’s documentary series tracks the people behind popular local joints

In the bylanes of Mandaveli, a man dressed in a low-slung pair of shorts has been tending wood-fired stoves in a soot-blackened kitchen for over 40 years now. And the hot meals he plates up have had scores of customers turn decades-long loyalists. Meet ‘trouser thatha’ Rajendran, of Trouser Kadai — the name lovingly given to his no-name food joint, thanks to his signature look. He is one of seven cooks starring in FoodArt: Chennai, the first edition of city-based food historian Rakesh Raghunathan’s new documentary series. The idea for the show, which promises to go “behind the emotion of food”, came about quite serendipitously. “Last year, an old man came to our house to sell kolam maavu. As we got talking about his mixture [he adds rice flour to rock powder so that ants can eat it], he told me food stories from his hometown of Dharmapuri. And it occurred to me that till now, through my shows and workshops, I’ve only focussed on food, never the people,” says Raghunathan, who started the handle @artistswhocreatefood on Instagram soon after. And as he kept digging, he unearthed more stories.