Test your metal

The range of utensils in any given kitchen speaks volumes about the elaborateness of the cooking that takes place there as well as the type of food prepared,” say Solomon H. Katz and William Woys Weaver in their Encyclopedia Of Food And Culture, a 2003, three-volume tome on food and its place in our society.

Take a look around your kitchen. Does most of the cookware comprise non-stick pans and stainless-steel pots and utensils?

The French have a charming phrase for cookware—batterie de cuisine (ensemble for cooking). Archaeologists have often relied on this ensemble (or rather, its remains) to understand and reconstruct daily life through the ages—the kind of food being cooked, cooking apparatus, even the economic level of the household. While it’s not clear exactly when humans started cooking, the earliest evidence of cookware goes back some 20,000 years to the remains of clay pottery found in Xianrendong Cave in China.

Natural clay yields durable pots and pans and this was the preferred material for cookware for thousands of years, till the discovery of metal in the Bronze Age (and later in the Iron Age) led to metal cookware. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, advances in metallurgy saw aluminium and stainless-steel cookware being produced.

Ovens of all sorts have also been a part of the cooking ensemble for years. The earliest ovens were pits dug into the ground and heated using smouldering rocks; the oldest known ovens were found in Central Europe and dated to 29,000 BC. Ceramic ovens came much later (around 3,000 BC); this variety includes the Indian tandoor, which was even found in the settlements of the Indus Valley civilization. Gas ovens made an appearance in the early 19th century, followed in 1947 by the microwave oven—what Michael Pollan calls “the last major innovation” in his 2013 book Cooked: A Natural History Of Transformation.

A variety of materials have been used to make cookware and utensils, each of which has fallen in and out of favour at different points in history as our hearths have evolved. Some common materials now include cast iron, copper, aluminium, stainless steel and Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene).

Cooking methods largely dictate the kind of material to be used. Cast iron, which can withstand very high temperature, is good for both long, slow cooking and rapid stir-frying. Copper cookware was traditionally used in most kitchens, including Indian ones, as it was the most commonly available metal and is a good conductor of heat.

The health benefits

Cooking with traditional cookware materials is known to have health benefits. It’s not merely an old wives’ tale that cooking in iron pots enhances the iron content of the food. In India more than 70% of children below the age of 5 have anaemia. In their 2013 study, Beneficial Effect Of Iron Pot Cooking On Iron Status, published in the Indian Journal Of Paediatrics, researchers from the University of Pune, Maharashtra, cited their study of preschool children who were served iron-rich foods cooked in iron pots for three months. They found a 7.9% increase in haemoglobin levels among the children.

Dietitians recommend that the food be kept in the pot for at least 15 minutes so that it can absorb the iron. “It’s for this very reason that in India, we have been traditionally making our phodni (tempering) in iron kadahis,” says Mumbai-based food consultant and writer Saee Koranne-Khandekar.

The use of copper vessels to store water was quite common in the past, and continues in a few homes. Copper has antimicrobial properties and acts as a natural water purifier. Copper vessels were also used extensively for cooking. In the Tamta mohalla (copper community) in Almora, Uttarakhand, one of the few places in the country where copper utensils are still handcrafted, artisans bemoan the dying demand for this type of cookware. “Nowadays most people prefer steel and non-stick for cooking and plastic for storing water, so we are now reduced to making decorative copper items,” says Sudama Tamta, one of the artisans stuck in a craft that is rapidly fading away.

For convenience, and because it promises a less-oily diet, non-stick is the cookware of choice now. But exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (Pfoa), which is used to make Teflon, may be a risk factor for bladder and kidney cancers—though studies have not been conclusive.

Teflon also requires special care to ensure that the coating remains intact. Excessive use of soap, scrubbing and subjecting to high temperatures​ can strip the Teflon coating. Cracks in coating may release Pfoa and other harmful compounds, which can contaminate the food being cooked.

Stainless-steel cookware is, of course, a favourite in the Indian household. It’s highly durable, rust-proof and low-maintenance. On the flip side, it’s not a good conductor of heat and can cause food to burn due to uneven heat distribution. This problem has been alleviated by the copper-bottom stainless-steel vessels, which conduct heat better.

Some traditional cookware is still in wide use in Indian homes, such as the tava—the convex, plate-shaped griddle used to make rotis, parathas and other flat breads.“I have been greatly influenced by my grandmother’s cooking and her use of iron and copper cookware, so when I got married I got a lot of her vessels as hand-me-downs,” says Koranne-Khandekar.

She occasionally picks up more such vessels on her travels; iron kadahis from the Sunday market in Kolhapur (where you can get your cookware made to order) and copper utensils from Nashik’s Tamba Ali (copper alley). “My attraction is more towards the metal and its craft, but food does taste better cooked in these vessels,” she adds.

USING TRADITIONAL COOKWARE

u Cast-iron cookware can rust easily, so it needs to be seasoned before first-time use, as well as between uses. Soak new cast-iron cookware in hot soapy water for 5 minutes, wash it off and dry thoroughly. After this, coat the pot or pan with oil and place it upside down in an oven at 260 degrees Celsius for an hour.

u After every use and wash, pour some oil in the pan and spread it all over (including the bottom of the pan) with a paper towel. Heat on the gas till it starts smoking. Turn the heat off, cover and allow it to cool completely before storing.

®If seasoning is too much of a hassle, use enamelled cast-iron cookware.

u Copper cookware needs to be lined with tin to prevent the copper from reacting with food. The lining wears off over time and with use, so the vessels need to be retinned periodically (a process known as ‘kalai’).

u Remember that iron and copper will react with acidic foods such as tomatoes, citrus fruits, wine, etc., as well as with dairy products.