New Delhi, Aug. 7 -- As an army kid, summer holidays rarely meant choosing between beaches and mountains. The road usually led to two places-maternal or paternal grandparents' home-where cousins, long afternoons, and familiar kitchens waited. Being posted across India at a time when travel wasn't as commonplace as it is today also meant returning with what we would now call edible souvenirs: motichoor ladoos from Lovely Sweets in Jalandhar, gajak from Khatri Gajak Bhandar in Jodhpur, baal mithai from Ellora's in Dehradun, and noodles from Thimphu and Gangtok.

Things have changed since then. Almost every regional speciality can now be delivered across the country within days, sometimes hours. Karachi Bakery's fruit biscuits are no longer ...