The Caterer

Anudeep Kapoor aka Prince recently invited me to a wedding he had catered. I arrived at a large hall on the outskirts of Delhi, where Prince had set up various food stations. There was a Punjabi dhaba complete with jute stools and steel tables, a ‘western bar’ where the waiters donned cowboy hats, oversized boots and served mocktails.
‘People come to Indian weddings to eat. That is the basic purpose of the wedding’

The French corner featured a human being-size Eiffel Tower with pastries stacked on top. “People come to Indian weddings to eat. That is the basic purpose of the wedding. The bride’s family has to put up a show, and anyone you have interacted with in your lifetime is fed. In many ways,” says Prince, “a wedding is like a mass charity event.” Except, when I look around, none of the guests strike me as being in the least bit malnourished. According to Prince, “Gone are the days when the halwai came and set up behind the tent. Now at least three types of cuisine are expected. The minimum that we offer is 25 dishes, and we can go up to 500 varieties of food. Even the lower middle class will opt for about 25 dishes. The current ‘in’ concept is to recreate spaces, like a Punjabi dhaba, a French cafe, a seafood shack, so the wedding guests feel transported to a holiday destination.”