Quaint Essence food fest under way

GUWAHATI, Oct 13: The two-day workshop-cum-food fest of ethnic Northeast Indian cuisine organized by Quaint Essence in coordination with the North East Zone Cultural Centre, Ministry of Culture, Government of India kickstarted at Shilpagram in Guwahati today.

The two-day workshop was inaugurated by Director of North East Zone Cultural Centre, Ministry of Culture, Hekali Zhimomi and former VC of Rajiv Gandhi University, AC Bhagawaty. On the first day of the workshop-cum-food fest today, connoisseur of traditional cuisine Rajib Bora spoke on Bhut Jolokia – the hottest chilly in the world – the medicinal qualities of the chilly and its use in traditional cuisine, Naga cuisine in particular.

Columnist and a teacher by profession Karunamay Sinha spoke on traditional Manipuri cuisine. He highlighted ‘eromba’, a curry which is devoid of oil and spices and is made of fermented fish, arum, bamboo shoot, banana shoot and banana flower. He also spoke on ‘sagalkhoi’ or ‘sakalkhoi’ (black lentils) which is regarded as the queen of all Manipuri dishes and ‘yongchak’, also known as food of monkeys. He drew attention to aromatic herbs such as yannam, coriander, false coriander, phakpoi etc that adds a distinct flavour to Manipuri dishes.

Besides, Alynti Nongbri, a selection grade lecturer in Shillong College, Meghalaya, spoke at length on traditional Khasi cuisine and its specialities. Political and Cultural activists Dharam Singh Teron highlighted the traditional Karbi cuisine. THE SENTINEL