INSTITUTE OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT

AURANGABAD

Essay

Discuss the role of local ingredients and cooking techniques in

preserving the quality and authenticity of regional food

Roshan Das (1875376)

Food Production Operations (BFI 1037)

“Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for B.A. (Hons) in

Culinary Arts”

UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD
UNITED KINGDOM

December 2018
 Declaration

I, the undersigned Roshan Das, student of Culinary Arts Year I hereby declare that the
information provided in this assignment is a record of original work done by me, under
the supervision of Mr.Pramod kesave. All sources of my knowledge used have been duly
acknowledged.

_____________________

Roshan Das
1875376

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Table of content

Introduction 3

Literature review and Discussion 3-5

Why eat traditional food? 4
Aromatics 4
Medicinal Personality 5
Texture 5

Conclusion 6

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Introduction

“Food, indeed god’s gift to mankind, has found infinite means for expression. It has
uncanny ability to make a berth for itself in the cocoon of human reality; it get under
the skin of infant, youth and elders while presenting itself perfectly, creating the vibrant
setting for the celebration of life.”[CITATION Kha \l 16393 ]

The Indian cuisine is one of the most diverse cuisines characterised by its subtle, cultured and
sophisticated use of local ingredients grown across India. Each geographical region in India
has its own exotic and authentic ingredient and a wide range of melange of dishes and
cooking techniques that reflects the different demographics of the ethnically conflicting
Indian subcontinent. India’s diverse climate, ranging from alpine in the Himalayan north to
tropical in south has made a wide range of ingredients locally grown on their regional land.
After Aryans, the Indian cuisine is influenced greatly by other multiple invaders throughout
the country history: the Mughals, British, Turks, and Portuguese. All the invaders influenced
our cultures by adding their ingredients and cooking techniques in India. In the past, India
was a heritage home of Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Jainism, Christianity, Parsi and
Zoroastrians, all of them were debating and spreading their food and food habits.

India since sultanate period is a melting jackpot of cuisines. The history of Indian cuisines is
5000 years old and has been influenced by various cultures that had become part of India.
Foreign invasions, trade relations and colonialism have help in bringing new concepts to
Indian delicacy. There are various factors that affects Indian cuisine are religion, culture,
region, and climate. Apart from invasions of foreign ingredients, innovation of new dishes;
advanced and novel cooking techniques were also introduced. The history emperors like the
Mauryan, the Gupta’s, the Turk’s, the Portuguese, the British have establish different element
that have been easily incorporated into Indian cuisines owing to its versatility. The infusion
between culture and consequently food has made India a big melting pot and therefore Indian
cuisine continues to evolve.[ CITATION The15 \l 16393 ]

Literature review and Discussion

The Indian traditional cuisines is popular and is appreciated for its herb and spices. Indian
cuisine is known for its great medley of dishes. The cooking technique vary from region to
region and is largely divided into southern and northern cuisine. India is quite famous for its
diverse cuisines available in resorts and restaurants, which is evocative of unity of diversity.

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Wheat, rice and pulses are the staple food in India, being the important one. Due to
globalization and modern times Indian palate has undergone a several changes. Due to
travelling, there is a massive influx of people of different nationalities in India, which has
resulted in the Indianisation of different international cuisines.

Why eat traditional food?

The most demanding reasons is for health, as traditional food contain high nutritive content in
them because they are grown with viable methods which increase its nutritive content and
there is no chemical preservatives that diminish the medical property of the food. Real foods
provide nutrition for our wellness. Eating traditional and authentic food cures or help to avoid
many health diseases like asthma, diabetes, fibromyalgia etc. There is a vast difference in
taste between the traditional-ethnic food and the convectional and processed food. Traditional
cuisines are bucket of flavour, aroma, texture, fragrance, taste, colour and medicinal value.
Taste could be salty, pungent or astringent. These element came in the cuisine from local
spices and herbs; traditional cooking techniques which preserve the authenticity of regional
food. The characters of authentic-cultured delicacies are discussed below: -[ CITATION Rai10 \l
16393 ]

Aromatics

Aroma is the first cousin of taste, in fact taste is an intricately entangle mixture of flavour,
aroma and texture or mouthfeel. Indian food with the mixture of indigenous ingredients and
intoxicating aromas, is derived around the world. Aroma specializes in authentic Indian
cuisines, something that lacks in western cuisines. The combination of exquisite cooking
techniques and local ingredients, makes the aroma smell heavenly. Aroma not only enhance
the flavour, but also enhance the mood. A typical example is Enduri Pitha- an Odia Pitha,
also known as Haladi Pitha. These are prepared in the occasion of Prathamashtmi puja,
usually celebrated by Odia’s a week after Kartik Purnima. These Pitha’s uniqueness lies in
the aroma of turmeric leaves, when rice flour batter rapped over turmeric leaves get steamed
in earthen pot, turmeric aroma and flavour get infused in the Pitha. Also, turmeric/banana
leaves gives a vivid texture to the Pitha. In the earlier days of civilization, it was easier to
cook in earthen pots. It allows slow evaporation of steam over a longer period. So this is how
it preserves its authenticity. But nowadays, people prefer to use Idli makers to steam enduri
Pitha for their convenience and non-availability of turmeric leaves is the another major

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reason of demolishing of traditional cooking techniques from the Odia homes.[ CITATION
Suj18 \l 16393 ]

Medicinal personality:-

Since, antiquity Indian traditional food have been prepared in various parts across the
country. Traditional acumen about cooking technique, processing of food, its preservation
and its therapeutic effect have been entrenched for many generations in India. Indian
authentic food are also identified as functional food because of the presence of functional
components like anti-oxidants, dietary fibres and probiotics, for an example: - Bamboo
Mutton, a non-vegan delicacy from Odisha. The marinated mutton is cooked in the bamboo
shoots and the bamboo shoots are covered with leaves. Then, the shoots are cooked in the
charcoal which gives mutton a smoky flavour. Cooking in bamboo shoots has an advantage
that it requires less oil to cook, so it’s highly nutritive. Traditional bamboo shoots have many
health benefits, like these are rich in vitamin B6, thiamine, riboflavin and minerals such as
calcium, magnesium and copper. Bamboo helps in reducing cholesterol and it have high
carotenoids and chlorophyll, which helps in lowering blood pressure. These bamboo
preserves the authenticity and nutritive value of final dish. Nowadays, people prefer to cook
mutton in kadhai’s/microwave, because it is more convenient; saves time and energy and due
to unavailability of bamboo shoots in regional lands itself, cooking in traditional bamboo
utensil is diminishing day-by-day.

Texture:-

Texture is the primary aspect that together with visual appearance, taste, and aroma makes
the cuisine sensual. Texture is one of the characters of the traditional food. The interaction of
regional ingredient and exotic cooking technique makes the blend of unique texture and taste.
Each of the ingredient varieties exhibits textural and flavour properties on the basis of the
granule size and shape, starch content which gives different characteristics to the final
product,[ CITATION Cos05 \l 16393 ] for an example: Chenna Podo- the signature sweet
delicacy of Odisha. This is basically a burnt Chenna (cottage cheese). The cheese is baked in
traditional oven with red hot coals, thus it absorbs the sugars and nuts. The caramelisation is a
heart of the Chenna podo. The Chenna is wrapped in the Sal leaves for baking it in a
traditional way. Red hot coals on the top of the Chenna podo gives it a beautiful coarser
texture, which enhances its visual appearance. The food in the earthen oven is being cooked

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by the method of radiation, conduction and convection. Even though people nowadays
making Chenna podo in microwaves, which subsides the natural aroma and texture of this
sweet delicacy. Globalisation has bought these changes in Odia homes, but the most eminent
flavour comes from earthen ovens only. Nothing can beat the taste of Chenna podo baked that
way.

Conclusion

Thus from all above research and discussion, I can conclude that, in a country with 30 states
and a population of 130 million, we need to preserve the authenticity of regional food, which
is our heritage. There are exquisite cuisines in each and every state which are a part and
parcel of their own culture. It is the time to preserve and save our own exotic traditional food
and also initiate a step towards a research on such divine recipes, so that the traditional brains
can be conserved. Like Osama Jalali, who belongs to an old family from old Delhi, has been
attempting to initiate an action to get people more aware about authentic regional cuisines.
Also, Munshaw Gildhiyal whose culinary legacy has been introduced a ranges of regional
cuisines and their stories from Assam, Kerala and city’s old communities like Pathare,
Prabhus and Parsi’s to the Mumbaites.

At last, there is an essential need to create a central traditional food board with the purpose to
preserve and conserve the traditional delicacy, otherwise the coming generation will never
have an authentic allusion for ethnic food recipes and the knowledge of the Indian ancestry of
more than 5000 years will be at danger.

References
contributors, N. W. (2017, August). New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved from New World
Encyclopedia contributors: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?
title=Indian_cuisine&oldid=1006069

Costell, E., & Duran, L. (2005). Food Texture: Sensory Evaluation. EOLSS.

Gopal, D. K. (2011). The Indian Cuisine . New Delhi : Asoke K. Ghosh.

Khan, D. A., & Jayaram, S. (2008). The Romance of Food (Vol. 36). Fatima R. Zakaria.

kokje, M. (2016, may). Nuffoods Spectrum. Retrieved from www.nuffoodsspectrum.in:

http://www.nuffoodsspectrum.in/inner_view_single_details_print.php?
page=4&content_type=&vrtcl_panel_nm=&ele_id=NOR_57459d564cae04.55601773

Mohanty, N. (2015, december). Magzter. Retrieved from www.magzter.com:

https://www.magzter.com/news/808/2272/122015/jf45s

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Satpathy, S. (2018). Odia Recipes . Retrieved from odiarecipes.com:
https://odiarecipes.com/details.php?htid=30

Saunders, R. (2010, october). Agriculture Society. Retrieved from www.agriculturesociety.com:

http://agriculturesociety.com/politics-and-food/what-are-traditional-foods/

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