Himalayan cuisine - Food from Himalayas

Food from Himalayas

The concept of Terroir in regional Himalayan cuisine

Have you ever noticed the sudden increase In our appetite whenever we are here at the almighty Himalayas more specifically Garhwal and similar hill stations, we start craving for each and every food item that passes through our eyes, be it a lemony corn cob or a steaming bowl of soup.

So what makes us hungry? Is it the need of some extra calories to manage our body temperature, for adjustment with cold climate and regaining what you lost in your hike toward your cottage that is 250 miters uphill from the road? Yes it do plays an important role as our body looks for arranging extra calories to maintain the body temperature for sustaining the colder climate, and to regain the extra energy lost in doing routine tasks while having fun at Himalayas.

So is this a reason that makes your instant noodles yummier when you eat them here at a scenic hill station? Using the vary similar ingredients and even the same brand delivers a totally different flavor and feel, the question remains the same, why ?

The answer lays in a French term “Terroir” a French word literally meaning soil. It is used in a very particular way when applied to wine or food. The word first became popular among wine writers for expressing characteristics of a place that gives a wine or food its particular and unique taste and characteristic, based on the soil, climate, fertilizer and horticulture of a region or micro-region. My French-English dictionary gives the definition of Terroir as “tang of the soil.” That’s an awkward definition and only captures half the story. Yes, soil is important, but it is more than that.

When Culture and soil combines creates Terroir

Terroir is uniqueness of place, what gives the food from that region a particular taste by virtue of what the soil brings forth, either in terms of the grass a cow eats that makes for some unique milk based dishes or simply Tea, or how a tomato grown in that place tastes by virtue of the particular nutrients contained in the soil. Nevertheless, it is more than just soil and climate. It is the application of the methods, techniques, habits and customs of a culture when it interacts with its soil for the purpose of growing food. Not just that of the farmer, but everyone else who is involved in transforming that food into a cuisine.

That might mean how a Garhwali grandmother, let’s say, snips the Garlic growing in her kitchen garden. What form of organic matter does she turn into the soil bed, and what does she use for nitrogen and potash additions? How much sand does she mix in the soil, and where the sand comes from? And, finally, it is meaningful that she grows garlic at all.

My quest for finding the right answer will continue but for sure there is something special about Himalayas, Whatever you cook becomes a delight, simple ingredients become gastronomical wonders.

the Concept of Terroir plays a crucial role, water, soil, climate, latitude & locally grown organic ingredients they all contribute