Swadeshi cuisine is largely foreign: Datta Naik
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 16 February 2015 15:18 IST
The Indian cuisine, which we proudly call Swadeshi, is actually evolved through most of the cereals, vegetables and fruits imported from foreign countries, states Datta Damodar Naik, a businessman and a writer.
He was delivering a lecture on ‘Our cuisine culture’ at a book release function of ‘Potpooja’, by Usha Vaman Bale, in Margao.
Mr Naik however also lauded the Indian housewife for inventing thousands of authentic recipes which have now become world famous.
As he informed the audience, the rice of our basic essential Xit-Koddi was imported from South East Asia while wheat, potato, tomato, pineapple and papayas were imported from Latin America. Similarly, chilly was imported from Chilli, onion from Egypt, cloves from Indonesia, cinnamon from Sri Lanka, bananas from England, guava from Peru, oranges from Mozambique and cashew from Brazil.
However, Mr Naik also informed that mango, jackfruit, arecanut and pepper went all over the world from India. The controversy over whether coconut is Indian is still not resolved, he informed.
As a result of ill treatment given to the widows in olden days, Mr Naik revealed, they invented many recipes in order to create a respectable place for them in a joint family.
The book ‘Potpooja’ was released by Prof Shridhar Bhiku Bhat, the eldest member of the Usha Bale’s Bhiku Bhat family of Zambaulim.
“I am delighted that several innovative recipes my mother invented will now reach all over the world through the effort of my niece Usha”, said Prof Bhat on the occasion.
Ms Bale expressed confidence that the cooking time tables – five weeks of breakfast and seven weeks of meals – would provide respite to thousands of working women as well as men in the nuclear families.
Dinesh Manerkar, publisher of Sanjana Publications, said the book has created record by becoming the first book with 251 authentic recipes and with a dynamic cooking time table. He also informed that 113 people booked in advance 313 copies of the book in response to the Facebook marketing.
Sapna Sardesai of Printers’ Devil on the occasion announced that the English edition of the book would be released shortly.
Ketan Bhat and Reshma Bale also spoke on the occasion. Sandesh Prabhudesai compered.
Radima Jogley, Goa’s leading artist, figures on the cover page of the book, captured by Goa’s ace photo journalist Rajtilak Naik.
