INDIAN HOME COOKING SPICES LUNDS AND BYERLY'S RACKS

SARAH MULHOLLAND

EDINA, Minn. -- As more retailers and consumers display an increasing willingness to explore spice and flavor, Lunds Food Holdings here offers customers a taste of Indian home cooking not typically found on restaurant menus.

Chef Raghavan Iyer -- a regular instructor at the chain's cooking school -- recently held a cooking class at the St. Louis Parks Byerly's unit in support of his new book, Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking.

The class focused on traditional cuisine of the Keral and Tamil Nadu regions of India not found outside the home kitchen, according to Deidre Schipani, manager of culinary services for Lunds and Byerly's. Pancakes, noodles and dumplings were featured.

"This is a response to a tremendous curiosity about cultural home cooking," she said. "Also, Indian cuisine is an opportunity for tired palates to explore new flavor profiles. Spices are used very differently than they are in the U.S."

Increased travel and a more connected global community have given people a new appreciation for the culinary customs of other lands, she said. They also provide a more nuanced definition of regional cuisine.

"We are seeing a shift away from generic ethnic terms," explained Schipani. "People used to take an Italian cooking class or a Chinese cooking class. Now they are studying the foods of Tuscany or Rome, Sczechuan or Cantonese."

Some stores may hold samplings of recipes from the book, and book signings, she said.