2019 Backstory: How a food video shoot gave me loss of appetite

Editor's note: Backstory is Onmanorama's special year-ender video series. Here, our reporters recall their memorable experiences in 2019. Watch all videos here.

“Are you handling the food section of Onmanorama?”

“You must be really lucky. You can travel around and taste culinary delights from everywhere.”

Those are some of the usual remarks from people when they meet me for the first time.

Of course, being a foodie, I am so happy to be in charge of food segment of Onmanorama and the most interesting part of it is food video production.

But what viewers do not realise is that I rarely get to enjoy the food part of it. Hours spent in kitchens, trying to get the perfect shots, barely leaves me with an appetite.

In August, I was in Kerala food's capital Kozhikode for a video shoot on the popular 'Samudra Sadya' at Ambika restaurant. It serves 18 seafood delicacies for this sadya.

My cameraperson and I spent five hours in the kitchen, getting used to the smell of different fish curries. We were averse to the idea of gorging the delicacies immediately. With another production lined up at another restaurant, we had to rush without getting to taste the 'Samudra Sadya' that people have been making a beeline for.

We returned to Kottayam only to face the ironic question by our colleagues: "So how was the Samudra Sadya?

(This story was first published on December 24, 2019.)