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Jawik Aswad
We were just wandering why till date in India mango only comes in May, oranges in April, authentic apple of Shimla only come soon after rains, coffee in south and tea in north, wheat in north and rice in south, to some level we could say that there still exists region and season based eating habits in India. There is no monotone in terms of food here. Giving another thought to travel in India, it’s just not the country with only mosques, temples and palaces it is also an exotic food arena, which has still been able to sustain bazaar regional glimpse in its cuisine. Food is strongly woven in the social fabric as Muslims and Hindus exchange their traditional dishes during the festivals. Food is shared between different communities or household in order to celebrate the festivities. Food is next to religion in India. There are hundred of festivals in the country and each festival according to region has its own traditional cuisine.
In order to capture this versatile never-ending food carnival, we intend to prepare the mapping of basic ingredient and raw food of the country based on the agricultural and vegetation map. The project is called Jawik Aswad (food relishment). So the basic ingredient you like head towards that direction in the country. In other words this mapping will enable the reader to decide what to eat at which part of the country. It can also help to plan visit, want to eat mango come in summer. But the key concept behind this project is to strengthen regional or localized use of foodstuff by informing the traveler as a result it will reduce on fuel and refrigeration too. This would also assists in developing season based eating habits.
This “Jawik Aswad” is in two phases
Phase One (Food Map)
1. This project will be information tome based on the local (regional) production of the raw food .In this phase we are preparing a food map of India which identifies region based agriculture giving information about Tea, coffee, Oils seeds , spices, Food crops, vegetables and fruit. Most of the data has been collected now it is in the process of compiling. Second part of Phase one would be State wise mapping of agriculture similar to food map of India.
2. Preparing the similar maps with seasonal production of raw food. This part is a challenge as to collect information for the season based fruits and crops from an unorganized sector. Second how to represent two variable mapping that is season and region based in other words time and space.
Phase Two (Food Hart & documentation)
Is to organize and document a food hart, which will bring in regional raw as well as processed food made by the locals during their festivals and as eating habits. This documentation will assist in developing awareness about regional agriculture and also the related culture. India from time immemorial has agriculture as its main occupation as result all the festivals and celebration are related to crops. Holi the festival of colors is actually a celebration of Rabi crops harvest which begins by this time.
Therefore understanding of agriculture would give an insight to the social fabric of the country. It will also enable the traveler to relish the local food, which in turn would strengthen the local agriculture and culture too.
Project details
About the Authors:
Divya Sharma (India)
Lecturer GEC MP
Dr. Padmini Shivkumar (India)
Director, Sarvamangalam Natural Products Pvt. Ltd. Jabalpur MP
Satyendra Verma (India)
Lecturer Fine Arts college JBP
Posted by alex at January 23, 2007 10:43 PM
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