Cooks
Broadly, there are three categories of cooks in Lucknow. The bawarchis cook food in large quantities. The rakabdars cook in small gourmet quantities. Rakabdars also specialise in the garnishing and presentation of dishes. The nanfus make a variety of roti, chapattis, naans, sheermals, kulchas and taftans.
Normally, one cook does not prepare the entire meal. There are specialists for different dishes and also a variety of helpers, like the degbos who wash the utensils, the masalchis who grind the masala, and the mehris who carry the khwan (tray) to spread on the dastarkhwan. The wealthy had their kitchens supervised by an officer called daroga-e-bawarchi khana or mohtamim. This officer’s seal on the khwan guaranteed quality control.
Read more about this topic: Awadhi Cuisine
Famous quotes containing the word cooks:
“Hell is a place where all the cooks are British.”
—“Euro-joke,” quoted in Business Week, p. 32D (November 6, 1995)