There’s always been a passing reference of Burma in the politically aware Indian’s conversations. The images have always been that of a quaint country ravaged by war. So little is known of its culture. A recent food festival in India gave a glimpse of the Bumese culture through their food. So much like us and yet so aloof

BY DEEPIKA BELAPURKAR

Roasted crickets anyone? An Indian fussy about what comes on his plate may baulk, but a local would probably go weak in his knees over this delicacy.

There’s pickled catfish too, boiled to perfection; on the lighter side there’s garlic and dried prawns that go along with powdered green chilies made into a ‘delectable’ sauce, tiny red shrimp fried with the reddest chilies this side of the pacific ocean, and if you can stomach it, belly pock cooked with fermented bamboo shoots. Essentially, Myanmar meals are a fishy encounter – fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner and – also for dessert. Interested?

The recently concluded Myanmar (Burmese) festival of arts and cuisine at Le Royal Meridien, Mumbai was mercifully an introduction of the less experimental stuff, but an eye-opener to the country’s well-kept secrets. Food enthusiasts took to this mélange with characteristic aplomb.

Master Chef and CEO-cum-owner of Elephant House of Bangkok, Thailand and Yangon from Myanmar, Cherie Aung – Khin, believes Myanmar’s cuisine has been influenced by neighboring countries in subtle ways. Although, politically and in most areas, Myanmar has chosen to stay aloof from India on the west, Bangladesh in the northwest, Malay Peninsula and Thailand in the southeast, and China in the east. Bountiful suppliers of fish are Myanmar’s rivers, luxuriant are the country’s forests and welcoming are the inhabitants. Subsequently, the adulteration of the local culinary style by external influences has remained within reason.

Irrawaddy, the great river that nourishes this land of rice, begins its journey somewhere in eastern Himalayas, and rushes through mountain ranges in north Myanmar, to eventually become one of Asia’s largest river deltas. Along two thirds of the river’s 1, 600 km length, the people of Myanmar grow a plenitude of rice. Hence the fixation with rice! It forms their basic diet coupled with a variety of curries.

Essentially these are people who thrive on several types of fish pastes and salads. Soups are another favorite supplement, religiously taken with a meal. The locals are big on breakfast: high on the charts is ‘Monhinga’, a concoction of freshly made rice vermicelli or noodles with thick fish gravy that’s flavored with ginger, garlic, onions, pepper, and lemongrass which is garnished by slices of the inner stem of a banana plant, slivers of hard boiled eggs, coriander and crisps. ‘Ohn-no-Kauk-swe’, another delicacy that has great breakfast value for a local, brings together noodles, chicken and coconut curry. It is rice once more for a morning meal, with mon-di – thick-rice-noodles united with chicken curry, bean powder and oil. Chicken or pork curries are a good stand-by, though eating beef is normally considered ungracious, for if the cows are eaten, who would plough the fields?

If it’s ‘Ah kyawah thoke’ (salads to you and me) you’re after, begin with the vegetarian ones that are unpredictable in their taste: ‘Chin thoke’, which is also young ginger salad with garlic and nuts and has a spiked flavor. ‘La phet thoke’ is a soup of pickled tea leaves while ‘Ma gyi ywet nu thoke’, is a soup of young tamarind leaves sprinkled with sesame. ‘Khayan chintee thoke’ is an offering of pounded peanuts complementing red tomatoes. Have you ever heard of Chicken and f ish cake salads? They are very popular too. A salad dish can be an interesting stand-alone or can follow the ‘Hin cho’ soup made of a potion of vegetables, fish or glass noodles with traditional spices.

In these fishy tales, barracuda, butterfish, hilsa, catfish, lobsters, and red prawns are the chief protagonists, explains Cherie. Curried with fresh vegetables, stewed in herbs, steamed with vegetables, or even simply whisked with the juice of lemons, the outcome is worth sampling. From ‘Pazun hin’ (prawn curry) to ‘Ben thar hin’ (duck curry) and ‘Shwe phayone thee chet’ (pumpkin curry) to ‘Be pyar yan chin tee chet’ (a bean curd and tomato curry), the Hin or curry items are sure to send you scuttling for more. Rice and noodles can never be far, either steamed, in soup form or with coconut.

Eating a Myanmari dessert can be a sublime event. ‘Ah cho’ as desserts are called have mouthwatering varieties like : a sweet cake made of semolina, sugar, egg, butter, and coconut called ‘Sanwin-ma-kin’; ‘Kyaukchaw’ is made of sea weed jelly and is eaten with jaggery and banana cakes. Pickled tea leaves is also considered a hot item; the other favorite being an assortment of nuts, beans, seeds, and dried shrimp. If you wish to play it safe grab a plate of ‘Shwe yin aye’ which is nothing but agar agar and sago in coconut milk. Different ethnic groups eat differently. Their preferences could vary.

A recipe of tender pork stew with red bean paste is ancient, a thousand year to be precise which can be found only in Bagan while Mon-di noodles mixed with chicken curry, a bit of onion oil, some small fish balls and powder made from a certain bean is a Mandalay favorite. Shan curries are cooked with herbs rarely used in the plains; in Mawlamyaing a salad of raw, peeled prawns marinated in limejuice is popular amongst the locals.

All-day snacks are hot sellers in the land of Myanmar. Most sought-after among these are the husband and wife cakes - two halves making a whole, with a tiny quail’s egg cooked in each half.

Quaint traditions. But the land of Myanmar has always been just that.