The best ideas for cookbooks usually emerge during the course of a meal. It’s cliched, but true. There is enough anecdotal evidence to give this statement credence and none more recent than the book, The Seven Sisters: Kitchen Tales from the North East. The authors of the book, Sanghita Singh and Purabhi Shridhar, found themselves engaged in an animated discussion over the food of the north-east at a lunch, which also happened to have a publisher at the table. Subsequently, the conversation evolved and this cookbook came to life.
Much of the north-east still remains a mystery to the ‘mainland’. I remember, as a first-time manager of a hotel, my north-eastern staff was constantly at the receiving end of cafeteria gossip. No one wanted to share apartments with them because the food was considered ‘smelly’.
It led to an awkward segregation that offended me, but was seen as the most practical solution for all involved, including my team of north-easterners, who were tired of explaining and being the butt of jokes. “It’s best this way,” they told me. Amusingly, as exhausted hotel employees on most nights, they would end up making Maggie noodles rather than any of the exotic dishes from home. As a result, although I was invited to their apartments often, I never quite got exposed to the cuisine in a way that I would have liked—not being the sort who would pull rank for food! The authors of the cookbook quickly tackle some of the prejudices associated with the cuisine by embracing all the ingredients, even those that make many of us cringe. But, more importantly, they also highlight our collective hypocrisy when it comes to the food. Why, for instance, is stinky (yes, I said it) blue cheese considered gourmet, but fermented soya bean paste grosses people out? Good question. I haven’t tasted the latter, but have crinkled my nose and consumed enough of the former to have developed a palate for it. Even in hospitality school, while there was exposure given to all Indian cuisines, north-eastern food was woefully absent.
So it is with great interest that one will read this book. Not only is it a collection of recipes, but it is also a brief introduction to the north-eastern states. Delving into history, anecdotes and fond personal memories, this book is factual, but also deeply personal. The recipes are more ‘home-style’ and the authors have reached out to a diverse set of people. Contributors include a former Tripura princess, a Manipuri football star and a 95-year-old Naga grandmother, whose recipe is shared by her writer-granddaughter, among others.
Each state gets its own dedicated section and cuisine secrets—such as how the Nagas do not use any oil in their cooking—are shared along with stories—such as the deep friendship between the Tripura royal family and the great Rabindranath Tagore—making this book imminently readable and informative. There are still those among us who are conservative eaters and for whom an ‘experimentation’ with north-eastern food would go as far as bamboo shoots, but nonetheless, the book remains readable, as it delves into the history and demography of the region through its food and is engagingly written.
Inter-tribal rivalries also find a mention. Take the Mizos whose cuisine boasts a style of cooking called ‘Haang’, a process whereby vegetables are stripped off all preservatives, additives and even salt to enhance their flavours. It has caused some Mizos to feel a little self-conscious about the lack of ‘exotic appeal’ in their food compared to other tribes. However, the health benefits of a salt-free diet (now, quite a fad) have now led to a new appreciation for their cuisine.
The final section of this book is dedicated to something spicier: chutneys, pickles and relishes. After all, as per the Guinness World Records 2007, the Bhut Jolokia is the hottest pepper in the world. So hot, in fact, that there was a suggestion by the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) to use it in hand grenades. It is, however, used in recipes in judicious measure and that is, possibly, the only warning this delightful cookbook comes with.
By Advaita kala
Advaita Kala is a writer, most recently of the film Kahaani. She is also a former hotelier having worked in restaurants in India and abroad