The roosters crowing and the sky streaked with pink suggest that it is time for the first awakenings to move. But the clock barely shows 05:00 even if the light seems much too bright for a winter morning. Less than an hour later, the whole hilltop town of Aizawl is inundated with sunshine, the sudden warming of the air bringing clouds down to cooler valleys below – a sight common in these hills at that time of the year.
The landscape, people, culture and cuisine here are completely different from anything the continent is known for
This seemingly horological gap is part of daily life in this Indian region collectively called the Northeast, a geographic salient that extends from the foothills of the Himalayas just south of the autonomous region of Tibet to the descent of the flood plains. from Bangladesh, with Myanmar. to its east. Although the borders and clocks of the eight states that make up this disparate region are linked to India, there is nothing else to suggest. The landscape, people, culture and cuisine here are completely different from anything the continent is known for.
Like many of its neighboring states, the Mizoram became part of India after independence from British rule in 1947. Its rugged hills were once considered wild and indomitable because of the headhunting mountain tribes that lived there. After the strong military subjugation of the tribes by the British, Welsh missionaries were sent to convert many tribes to Christianity. Today, almost 90% of the inhabitants of Mizoram are Christians, church spiers constituting an indelible part of the mass of concrete buildings perched precariously on the steep slopes of the state capital, Aizawl.
While the Mizos may have abandoned their animist gods, they clung to their tribal cuisine. Various stews of roots, shoots and leaves eaten with hearty accompaniments of meat and rice still dominate the two main meals of the day – a late breakfast and an early dinner taken just before sunset. In this distant border, closer both in air and road miles to Bangkok than the national capital of New Delhi, curry is a foreign concept replaced instead by bai, a kind of brothy’s stew which is the essence par excellence of a Mizo meal. Just like its counterpart on the spice-laden continent has many variations, bai recipes are as diverse as the products that locals harvest for the table.
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Thanks to the Chinese, the bamboo shoot has perhaps become one of the most consumed shoots in the world. But Mizos also like the tender shoots and stems of many other plants, including bananas, slender cane, taro, and those of an indigenous banana family that Mizos call saisu, or Musa glauca in Latin.
Seasonal local favorites include native wild plants such as chat, the spiny inflorescence of a local variety of Alocasia fornicate – the same family as the anthuriums and the lilies of peace. In addition to the more exotic species, the leaves and stems of harmless everyday plants such as passion fruit, pumpkins, yams, beans and squash are valued more than their fruits, each season determining which part is harvested for table.
Some favorite dishes include Maian bay, young simmered pumpkin leaves with a few sprigs of dried leaves of the rosella plant that locals call anthur; or behlwai bai, young green bean leaves simmered in a pork bottom with a little rice to thicken the broth, and tempered with a pinch of fermented pork fat his-um Finally.
Common leaves and herbs used to add extra flavor to the bai include chingiit, a close relative of Sichuan pepper; and what the Mizos call bahkhawr, whose thorny leaves are called culantro or Asian coriander in English. The flowers of a native plant called lengser or Mizo lomba (Elsholtzia blanda). Its lively citrus flavor is often compared to that of lemongrass used in recipes from Southeast Asia.
While the Mizo diet can be read as a botanical index, no meal is complete without generous portions of meat like pork, chicken and beef and their smoked varieties. Classic recipes include boiled smoked pork with mustard greens that add a distinct peppery touch to the rich broth; and saw chair, a stew based on rice and congee made from chicken or pork with sprigs of anthurium to infuse tart notes. Blood sausages and herb chutneys made from the roughest animal parts usually appear as special items at parties. Ginger, garlic and turmeric added to sautéed vegetables like potatoes or cauliflower are perhaps the only spices shared with the Indian continent.
The origins of the Mizo people are shrouded in mystery, but it is believed that they migrated over centuries from southern China and still share close linguistic, ethnic and culinary ties with many western mountain tribes from Myanmar. Their widespread use of fermented soybeans, known locally as bekang, as an aroma for stews or mixed with peppers as a side dish for rice also suggests ancient culinary links with countries from East Asia to Korea and Japan.
As they did in ancient times, Mizos prefer their bekang made from tiny soybeans imported from Myanmar, according to 78-year-old bekang maker Aizawl Zakiamloa, who, like most Mizos, uses only ‘one name. Mizo bekang is no different from Japanese natto, although it is less spicy and less gooey. Fermentation of the bekang is a meticulous process that involves soaking and steaming the soybeans overnight and leaving them on a hot stove for three days on the dried leaves of the Callicarpa arborea tree (locally called hnakiah) to facilitate fermentation, before the portions are carefully wrapped in fresh banana leaves for sale.
“I built my house and raised my children with bekang,” said Zakiamloa, who thinks little has changed in the Mizo diet for centuries, even though daily meals would have been their ancestors’ celebrations Nowadays. Despite the recent arrival of fast food chains like KFC, he believes it is Mizo’s dedication to their tribal diet that has helped many traditional food producers like him to run successful businesses. Most outdoor foods, even common Indian breads like puris and rotis or Tibetan momo dumplings and fried noodles, are only eaten as a snack between meals.
Due to its geographic remoteness, much of the cuisine and culture of the Northeast remains a mystery to most Indians, not to mention foreigners. But fans of Southeast Asian cuisine would likely like the still unknown tastes of Mizo food, said Khawlzamtei, who runs a Mizo food processing start-up called Zoei. She believes in the grassy textures and tasty flavors that Mizos call hang, a word that can be compared to the Japanese concept of umami, could find favor with many fans accustomed to the range of flavors in the subtle to intensely earthy notes of Asian cuisine.
For most Mainland Indians accustomed to spices, Mizo food could certainly be an acquired taste
“For most of the mainland Indians accustomed to spices, Mizo food could certainly be an acquired taste. But for those of us who are discovering it and who have been brought up, it is something we cannot do without, “said Khawlzamtei, who spent five years as a pharmacy student in Chandigarh, a city in northern India known for its classics. Indian curries like butter chicken, palak paneer and chole masala. “While [mainland] Indian food is tasty, it is always spicy. Spices dominate all tastes and we Mizos can’t take them too much, ”she said.
The shyness of Mizo for Indian spices belies their love for chilli, which is also said to have been introduced here by land from Southeast Asia, rather than by the seaways that brought chilli to ports. India in the 16th century. A meal is incomplete without at least one fiery chutney, often just a mixture of crushed peppers and various other herbs and spices like garlic and ginger, eaten in small pinches with rice bites. In fact, the Mizoram recently – and successfully – campaigned for a geographical indication of origin for a local variety of chili as the crow flies, emphasizing its importance for Mizo cuisine.
With more Mizos leaving their country of origin for educational and employment opportunities, Mizo’s earnings also cross their hilly borders. However, the unavailability of ingredients outside the state poses a challenge to its spread and often leaves homesick Mizos wanting a taste of the house. It was the funny anecdotes of friends and acquaintances encountering customs problems for having transported strange edible products to the United States, Australia and certain parts of Europe which pushed Khawlzamtei to start his business of transformation and d packaging of dehydrated and properly labeled Mizo vegetables. Its customers are mainly Mizos, but demand is increasing.
Khawlzamtei’s history in pharmacies has also cultivated an interest in the medicinal properties of many plants that Mizos consume as food. She believes that many regular Mizo vegetables, like kahwtebel (Trevesia palmate), whose buds, flowers and roots are known for their antioxidant and healing properties, in particular to help postpartum recovery, and local varieties of exotic spices such as sumac, also widely used in cooking from the Middle East, have untapped export potential for both. their gastronomic and medicinal properties.
As in many traditional societies closely linked in developing regions, meals at Mizoram are generally only made out of necessity, such as when traveling. Locals on the go can share tables at basic roadside restaurants, where common traditional dishes are served informal in the middle, alongside individual plates of rice. While these traditional restaurants offer hearty and tasty meals and compete in the number of side dishes offered, the often rudimentary settings and presentation can discourage non-intrepid souls. But things are slowly changing in Aizawl.
Formerly used only to give Mizos a taste of outdoor food like momos and Tibetan noodles or South Indian dosas, several restaurants now serve Mizo dishes in more tasty settings than the excavations at the edge of road. The Mizo meal at the Red Pepper in Aizawl arrives on a banana leaf placed on a traditional bamboo tray with the dry items delicately arranged around the rice, while the stews and the meat which accompany it are served in bowls and plates separated. The decor of the restaurant is based on a traditional village of Mizo with bamboo walls and thatched roofs. The restaurant owner, Zodinpuia, said it allows visitors to experience Mizo cuisine and culture, but surprisingly, an increasing number of its customers are also Mizo families.
“More and more Mizo families like to take their families on special outings and enjoy the experience of eating traditional food in a pleasant setting,” he said, adding that most of the time, visitors other Indian cities constitute a third of its clientele.
With easier air access from major Indian cities since the construction of the first and only Mizoram Airport in 1998, as well as the opening of borders with Myanmar for land tourists from Southeast Asia, tourism is considered as a growing sector in a once isolated region. North East India. More young people, like Red Pepper’s waiters, are receiving formal training in the hospitality industry. And it may not be long before Mizo cuisine gets the attention it deserves, crossing the borders of these steep hills and extending to the plains to reach the wide range of renowned gastronomic delights from India.
Eats ancient is a series of BBC journeys that place fashionable foods in their “authentic” context, exploring the cultures and traditions where they were born.
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