Opinion | Taste Is Evolving Faster Than Tradition — And Algorithms Are The New Chefs |
India is in the middle of a quiet culinary upheaval. Strangely, it isn’t happening in the country’s kitchens, restaurants, mandis, or culinary institutes. It’s unfolding on Instagram, YouTube, short-video apps, and quick-commerce home pages. Based on the time spent on one’s mobile, today, in any city in India, a typical teenager scrolls through more food content in ten minutes than what an earlier generation would encounter in a year. The mobile screen fills with cheese-pull shots, Korean ramen challenges, fiery street-food hacks, giant momos, and desserts that are engineered to drip, ooze, or explode on the camera. Beyond just being entertainment, digital indulgence has shaped taste and food habits.
Until about a decade ago, taste evolved slowly. Families would cook what their parents cooked. Regions protected their local flavours as part of traditions. Ingredients would travel along with celebration, trade routes and migrations. That gentle timeline has collapsed. As per Blinkit’s 2024 trend report, for instance, it mentions triple-digit growth for Korean noodles in several Indian metros—a number driven more by short-video virality than by culinary exploration. An obscure instant noodle brand from Seoul becomes a best-seller in Gurugram and Kochi almost overnight. Food habits now are driven by distraction and indulgence, moving at the speed of a swipe.
The old physical food chain—farmer → market → home—has mutated into a digital one: algorithm → meme → influencer → craving → quick-commerce → doorstep. What becomes desirable no longer comes from inherited wisdom or seasonal logic, but from the platform’s engagement logic.
There is a behavioural pattern underneath this. In evolutionary game theory, the “strategies" that spread fastest are the ones that deliver the highest visible payoff. In digital ecosystems, that payoff is attention. A dish doesn’t need to be nutritious, authentic, or even palatable—only visually dramatic. A neon-coloured drink, a cheese-soaked sandwich, or a........