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HALF JOKING: WHY NOT I MAKE A GO AT GUINNESS WORLD RECORD?

By P.T. Bopanna

Being a Sunday, I put on my thinking cap and began wondering whether I can make a go at Guinness World Record.

Then it occurred to me that I have a fair chance of making it to the record book! Yes, you heard it right.

My website www.coorgtourisminfo.com, started in 2005, has the largest collection of Kodava (Coorg) recipes contributed by home cooks.

Home cook is a general term for anyone who cooks for themselves, their family, or friends, without necessarily having professional culinary training or experience. 

Being a chronicler of Kodagu (Coorg), it occurred to me that the land had a rich culinary tradition, one which was certainly worth preserving. To that end, I put together a Coorg recipes website www.coorgrecipes.com way back in 2006 which has now been merged with my flagship website www.coorgtourisminfo.com.  

Those days, I was neither a foodie nor I had basic knowledge of cooking, but by involving those better qualified and doing some learning on the job, I was able to run a website dedicated to Coorg food.

How did I kick-start the website off to a good beginning? There were many who came forward to help, initially Manavattira Sharada Mandanna, contributed recipes that were well received.

Many of my near and dear ones contributed recipes for the site. Among them was my cousin, Nellamakkada Thulsi Bopanna (in picture) who passed away a few days ago at Mysuru.

With the recipes site gaining traction, I made the site dynamic and introduced a section ‘Recipe of the Month’ where people could contribute Coorg recipes.

Over the years, the recipe site has garnered a rich collection of Coorg recipes contributed mostly by home cooks. With the internet boom, there has been a steady rise in the traffic to the site from readers seeking Kodagu recipes.

I am currently on the job of putting together a book with content sourced from my recipes site. The book will also feature interviews with personalities in the culinary and cultural fields, and essays on various aspects of Coorg food and culture that have been contributed to the site. The proposed book will be well-illustrated with colour photographs of ingredients and preparations. The book will be curated by Shalini Nanda Nagappa.

Though I fulfil the requirements for making a serious attempt at Guinness, I am more than satisfied about the handing over of recipes for foods eaten by our ancestors, to our future generations. Through this food I feel, their love and wisdom will continue to nurture us.

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