• Director(s):

    NAWRATH (David)

  • Producer(s):

    ARTE GEIE

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2014

  • Language(s):

    German, French

  • Rights:

    TV, DVD, NON-THEATRICAL, INTERNET, VOD

For this first episode, Sarah Wiener travels to the southern Indian state of Kerala, nicknamed the “Spice Garden”.

She sets out in search of golden, perfumed curry powder, in the port city of Kochi, where local stallholders explain to her that in India people refer to “masala” and not “curry”. It is a seasoning made from a blend of ten spices: including cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cumin, coriander, and cloves … all with one ingredient in common - pepper. Sarah then goes to a pepper farm on the Cardamom Hills. The owner, Sali, teaches her the difference between white, black and red pepper, and then shares with her a recipe for rasam, a traditional, delicious, powerful pepper soup. Then, as an appetiser, Sarah makes a savoury fish curry with Shibu, a fisherman from the backwaters, the region’s wide canals. Finally, Ajeeth, a chef at a top restaurant, shares with her the secrets of his masala, a blend of spices that he has spent years perfecting.