Chennai Beach Food
The secret ingredient in Chennai's beachside food is the sea
Chennai residents have come to the coast to eat, talk, walk, and make memories for generations. 56-year-old Jayashree comes to the beach with her family after years, and food is an inseparable part of their memories.
Beachside Delights
The coast offers a spread for every kind of appetite, from the prawns and crabs of Pazhaverkadu to the rows of meen saapadu mess at Pattinapakkam. Jayashree says one of the main reasons they look forward to coming to the beach is for the snacks, and she recalls her father would refuse to buy much of the food sold at the beach, worried that it was unhygienic.
Twenty-three-year-olds Rajeeth Nisha and Kirijha have recently started coming to the beach with friends after college, and fish fry is already part of the ritual. They say they love the fish fry here because they come as a group and enjoy it more. For another Nisha, 31, a resident of Kodungaiyur, the beach is a monthly family outing, and fish is a mandatory snack.
Secret to the Taste
At the Alli Muthu fish stall at the Marina, rows of vanjaram, kilangan, kelathi, nethili, paarai, and kanava sit ready for the pan, each piece coated in a bright red marinade. Ganesh, who has been in the business for 30 years, says it is the podi sprinkled over the fried fish, a blend of several masalas, including chicken masala, fish fry masala, and garam masala.
Recreating the Flavor
Beach food may be hard to recreate at home because its flavor comes from more than just the masala: the salt, the sticky air, the sound of the waves, sand clinging to your feet, and the easy abandon with which people arrive at the beach simply to have fun. As reported by The Hindu, the combination of these factors makes the beachside food unique and memorable.
The Hindu reports that the beach has a way of bringing back old memories, and food is an integral part of them. For Jayashree, the beach has a way of bringing back old memories, and she says food is an inseparable part of them. She is eating chunks of raw mango dusted with chilli powder, a snack that is a part of her beach experience.
