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I write this from Kerala, on the southwest coast of India, on one of the last days of my eighth trip to this country. I’ve been to most of its major regions and cities, and over the decades I have traveled to more than 100 countries. All of which is setup for an admittedly bold claim, and one I don’t make lightly: India has the best food in the world.

For me, it is common for a random meal here, sometimes costing only a few dollars, to be more enjoyable than one from a starred Michelin restaurant in Paris. In India, the flavors are more vivid, the vegetables are at least as fresh and varied, the astonishments more common. Food in India is just flat-out better than most of what you get elsewhere, with the possible exception of China, which I have not visited in several years.

Why is the food so good? I have several overlapping hypotheses, most of them coming from my background as an economist. Interestingly, India’s culinary advantages can be traced to some good and some not-so-good aspects of Indian society.

Read the whole thing.

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