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A plateful of culture
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The Mediterranean and French cuisines acquire UNESCO World Heritage status. Does Hyderabadi cuisine merit a heritage tag? SANGEETHA DEVI DUNDOO asks foodies
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ALL-TIME FAVOURITES Biryani, Haleem and (below) Khubani ka meetha
The World Heritage Week
celebrations are on and beyond
all the lamenting over
how we are not doing
enough to protect and preserve
heritage structures and monuments,
there is something else
under the heritage umbrella
needs to be attended to. We are
what we eat and what we eat is a
`living heritage' practice. The
UNESCO World Heritage list
has included the Mediterranean
and French cuisines in its intangible
list. While we need to
wait and see if more cuisines
will find their way into this list,
we asked foodies if the possible
inclusion of Hyderabadi cuisine
will help preserve lesser-known
recipes.
INTACH convenor Anuradha
Reddy votes for dakhani food for
its melange of cuisines. "Our
food is unique. The Marathi and
Telugu influence on the Nizami
cuisine makes our biryani so different
in the way we combine
meat with dry fruits and vegetables.
Some of the dishes prepared
here are distinctive, like
Chinta Chiguru where meat is
combined with tamarind in a
South Indian way. The dakhani
cuisine is a fusion of geography
and history. The double ka
meetha, murrel fish and the use
of jowar is different from the
way it is used in other parts of
the country," she says.
Foodie Mehboob Alam Khan
roots for a heritage tag to the
Hyderabadi biryani. "Is there
any match to the biryani?" he
asks. "There are so many methods
of preparation and presentation.
The biryani can cater to
any palate; no other dish can
combine prawn, chicken, mutton
or vegetables so well and
taste so good," he says.
The Mediterranean and
French cuisines are celebrated
as speciality cuisines while the
typical Hyderabadi cuisine defies
definition. Sheherazade Javeri
rues the lack of authentic
Hyderabadi restaurants.
"Where do we get the variety of
salans and dalcha? How many
people know the Nizami handi
was a recipe that stemmed out
of the need to make use of leftover
vegetables? There are places
in the Old City where you can
go and taste the Nahari Paya but
can't we serve the same in a hygienic
environment? A chowki
experience at a restaurant will
make the cuisine accessible and
save near-extinction dishes,"
she says. Hyderabadi cuisine,
she observes, has influences of
Gujarati and Rajasthani practices
with a mind-boggling representation
of vegetarian dishes.
Chef-turned-restaurateur
Shankar Krishnamurty has a
different take on the issue. He
feels that more than just Hyderabadi
cuisine, Indian cuisine
should find itself in the intangible
list. "Our cuisine is deep
rooted and known for its medicinal
properties. Indian cuisine
as a whole deserves to be recognised."
What's the intangible list?
UNESCO's World Heritage List goes beyond listing monuments and properties. According to UNESCO, cultural heritage “encompasses living expressions and the traditions that countless groups and communities worldwide have inherited from their ancestors and transmit to their descendants.”
The intangible list was created to include living heritage practices. The Mediterranean and French cuisines are the first two cuisines to be added to this list, which also includes Chinese acupuncture and Spanish Flamenco dance among other art forms.
The Mediterranean diet made it to the list due to its nutritional model that has been consistent over time, with the use of olive oil, fruits, vegetables, cereals, fish and meat, accompanied by wine.
The inclusion of French cuisine, however, has triggered a debate. The use of local ingredients, systematic methods of preparation and pairing of food with wine apart, the cuisine is seem as a “customary social practice for celebrating important moments” and adds that a “festive meal bringing people together for an occasion to enjoy the art of good eating and drinking.” Now, isn't that true of any cuisine across the globe?
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