Читать книгу Indian Cooking For Dummies - Monisha Bharadwaj - Страница 25

All food is considered sacred in India. Nature is worshipped for its generosity, and many ingredients that come from the earth are revered. Wasting food is seen as an insult to the benevolence we are blessed with. Rice, for example, is seen as a staple that can feed countless people and is associated with abundance. Turmeric, the spice, has been valued for its healing properties for centuries and is used in rituals of cleansing and purification.

Invasions through land routes preceded those from sea routes, which were discovered much later. Southern India is surrounded by sea, so it saw relatively fewer foreign invasions, and the ones it did see came later than in the North. It’s believed that the native culture of India, both religious and spiritual, is better preserved in the South. Because religion is so pervasive through every aspect of life in India, the food here is also influenced by these beliefs.

South India is well known for its many beautifully sculpted temples. On many of my travels to these temples, I’ve found, to my great delight, sculptures of ancient foods that were served to devotees who visited or given as offerings to the gods. Some of these carvings are 800 years old and seem like a novel way to preserve the region’s culinary heritage!