RAJASTHAN, a group of small kingdoms once ruled by rajas and maharajas, with palaces as residences for the ruling families, was where romantic and heroic traditions flourished. And where royal patronage ensured the development of a variety of beautiful crafts and arts... and food. UpperCrust selects Jaipur and Jodhpur as the gourmet cities of this state.

The cuisines of these cities resonate with a vitality and good cheer, despite the fact that its people have to struggle hard to draw up even the simplest menu from one of the harshest terrrains of India. Women spend a major part of the day walking long distances to collect water, but they sing as they walk, and almost all of them wear a smile.

If the people are good-natured, the camels are ill-tempered! Stay out of their way. But be adventurous where the food is concerned. There's only so much of it. Vegetarian Marwari food, the sparse produce of the desert, with a heavy reliance on milk and flour. And meaty Rajput food, not like what the maharajas killed and ate in the shikars, but close enough. There's both. And lunch at Rambagh Palace and Umaid Bhavan Palace, the residences of Rajmata Gayatri Devi and Maharaja Gaj Singhji II.