Tanaz Godiwalla is an acclaimed name in the Parsi community. Having inherited her parent’s catering business—Godiwalla Caterers—she helped build it to newer heights, and followed it up with another delicious venture, A Parsi Affair. On the sidelines of her first Parsi Bhonu pop-up outside Mumbai—at Chor Bizarre in Delhi recently—the noted caterer chats with Garima Sadhwani about the importance of authenticity in flavours, reinventing foods and traditions, and more
From Godiwalla Caterers to A Parsi Affair, what has your journey been like?
I took over my family’s catering business after my father passed away nearly 34 years ago. After that, there was no looking back for me. Around 2019, I decided to privatise my business to protect my key staff, streamline the business operations, and also branch out—into condiments and ready-to-cook gravies. Even within catering I have another arm for buffets, corporate catering, etc. It was a steep learning curve because as soon as I privatised, Covid hit in 2020, and obviously, the whole industry suffered. The one good thing was I managed to pay and retain my staff through that tough period. It has taught me to be the conductor of an orchestra, which has teams, and each team has a specific role. This organisation within my business has surely made the business move with the times.
In the past few years, we’ve seen a trend of revival of traditional cuisines. Could you tell us about how the Parsi community is keeping its authentic food alive?
Parsis are an extremely small community with age-old traditions and recipes passed down from generations to generations. We, as a community, are very proud to display our food and open the doors for people to experience our traditional flavours.
Being a small community, we are even more protective of keeping the authenticity of our culture and flavours alive, which is a large part of my culinary journey, by not deviating from the age-old recipes and opening them up to an even wider society.
The Parsi food eateries in Mumbai have been a part of the city’s fabric since time immemorial. Tell us about the connection between your identity, your food, and the city.
I was born and brought up in Mumbai. Having the garam garam (piping hot) bun maska with chai or kheema pav in a very non-frills Parsi café with the most authentic flavours; or having the freshly prepared chicken crust patties in a cafe close to St Xavier’s College hugely influenced my taste buds, apart from the food my parents (who were caterers) prepared.
The main connection between these memories and my identity is that certain tastes and flavours stick in your head, the aroma of these dishes stays with you. At these places, where the portions were always generous, the food always did the talking.
All these years, have you been treading the traditional path, or reinventing your dishes as times change?
When times change, one has to move with them. I always keep the core dishes and flavours intact in my food—the way the dishes are traditionally meant to be. But I reinvent dishes, and introduce new dishes and appetisers all the time. One has to do that as people and their palates evolve. It is important to move with the times but keeping the core traditional flavours at the centre of it all is equally crucial.
Do you plan on bringing A Parsi Affair to Delhi as well?
I would love to bring A Parsi Affair to Delhi at some point, but there are no concrete plans yet. That said, sharing Parsi flavours with more people is something I’m always excited about, and I hope to make it happen in the future.
