aRTICLE | Legacy of Vada Pav
Vada Pav
Bombay Invents, Mumbai Keeps Relishing A city is defined and identified by numerous elements as part of the dowry of Catherine of associated with it, whether topography, language, heritage, etc. Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal. However, it is just the name Along with this, food is a significant aspect. What people eat that signifies Portuguese culture; tells a lot about the lineage and culture of a region. For instance, everything else about the dish is as Indian as possible. Galouti Kabab of Lucknow depicts the Mughal influence on the city, while Delhi’s Chole Bhature narrates the story of spicyphile As Legend has it Punjabis. Vada Pav of Mumbai is one such delicacy which defines As per Census 2011, Mumbai is one the culture and lifestyle of Mumbaikars of the most diverse cities, with a Hitesh Nigam | Reporter
ore than the dish, it is the people who make a food item synonymous with a city. Mumbai’s Vada Pav is one such tale of heavenly amalgamation between the lifestyle of Mumbaikars and its quick to eat feature. As it is fondly called, Batata Vada Pav is named after the Portuguese word ‘batata’, which means potato. Interestingly, the word pav is also a Portuguese word which means ‘sweet bread’. Wrapped in paper, the city of dreams still carries the Portuguese legacy, which began in 1534 when the Portuguese took control of the city to 1661 when it was gifted to Britishers
38 May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in
migrant population of more than 43 per cent. People from various places in India travel and settle in the city of dreams, searching for better livelihood opportunities. In the middle of the twentieth century, textile mills were in full swing in the city, and most of the people, who moved to the city in search of work, used to work in these mills. This was when a famous politician of Maharashtra and founder of Shiv Sena Balasaheb Thackeray appealed to the people of Mumbai to become entrepreneurs, which inspired a person named Ashok Vaidya to come up with the concept of Vada Pav. Vaidya chose Dadar railway station for this, which was the central hub of people travelling to textile mills situated mostly in Worli
