In Sanskrit, Pradhaman literally means "the first one." Which means that several centuries ago, somewhere in Kerala, a committee of extremely serious-looking men examined an entire sadya—rice, sambar, aviyal, olan, kalan, erissery, twelve vegetables, three pickles, two bananas—and unanimously declared: "The dessert is in charge." In twelve years of catering, I have attended hundreds of planning meetings. Not one has produced a decision as sensible as this. Imagine the confid
