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Home |
Regional Cookery Styles
| South Asian Cuisine | Southeast Asian Cusine |
| Northern India | Malaysia/Singapore |
| Southern India | Indonesia |
| Eastern India | Philippines |
| Western India | Thailand |
| Pakistan | Burma |
| Sri Lanka | Vietnam |
South Asian cuisine refers to the food styles from the Indian subcontinent covering several countries including India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Burma and Nepal. With the staple foods being mainly rice and wheat, it is also not surprising that the cuisine in this part of the world naturally includes a myriad ways that the staples are prepared. Significantly too, there is the melding of religions and cultures and this is reflected in the food. Large numbers of the peoples in the subcontinent are vegetarian. They are drawn from the Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist faiths. Many of them do eat meats and yet here again there are exceptions influenced by religion. Hindus don’t eat beef; the cow is considered sacred. Pork is not eaten by Muslims; the pig is deemed unclean. So, chicken, lamb and fish are usually featured in the cuisines of this part of the world. Importantly, these foods are characterized by the sophisticated and subtle use of many spices and herbs. Food is an important part of life in the subcontinent. It plays a role in everyday life as well as in the numerous religious and cultural festivals and is so diverse. Generally, Indian cuisine can be split into four categories: North Indian, South Indian, East Indian, and West Indian. Despite this diversity, some unifying threads emerge in the art of Indian cuisine. Spices are key to South Asian cooking. They are used to give flavour to dishes and can help create new flavours and aromas. Traditionally, the regional impacts on South Asian cuisine are quite pronounced and often that is underpinned by culture, hence the broad regional division that follows:
North Indian cuisine refers to the cuisines found in northern India which includes, among others, Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Praddesh and Haryana. The cuisine in this part of India features extensive use of cream, milk, ghee, paneer (a form of cottage cheese) and yoghurt. The other common ingredients include chillies, saffron and nuts.
In the Southern Indian states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu there tends to be a greater emphasis on rice, liberal use of the coconut , chillies and curry leaves. Unlike the North Indian region, garam masala is rarely used but there is extensive use of other spices such as cardamom, black pepper and turmeric. South Indian cuisine is distinguished by Andhra, Chettinad, Hyderabadi, Mangalorean, and Kerala cooking with each having distinct tastes and methods of preparing. In fact, most dishes will have subtle differences in taste – something that a discerning connoisseur would pick up. Breakfast dishes like dosa, idlis and puttu are all rice-based and are consumed with relish. Lunch and dinner will feature rice and an assortment of meat, fish, lentils and vegetables.
The region of Eastern India comprises the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Orissa, and shares many cultural and linguistic characteristics with Bangladesh. East Indian cuisine is famous for its desserts, especially sweets such as rossogollas. Many of the sweet dishes now popular in the northern parts of India originated in the Bengal and Orissa regions. Like in many coastal parts of India, seafood dishes are very popular in the states of Orissa and West Bengal, both of which are coastal. Rice is the staple grain in Eastern India. A regular meal consists of many side dishes made of vegetables.
Western India has four major food groups: Rajasthani, Gujarati, Maharashtrian and Goan. Rajasthan and Gujarat have hot, dry climates so the relatively smaller varieties of vegetables available are preserved as pickles and chutneys. Culturally these states are largely Hindu and vegetarian. Parts of cosmopolitan Maharashtra are coastal and parts arid, and the food varies accordingly. Peanuts and coconut are important ingredients as they are freely available. Goa with its lush green coastline has an abundance of fresh fish and seafood. Local dishes like Vindaloo and Xacuti testify to the fact that it was a Portuguese colony until the 1960s.
Pakistani cuisine is primarily a derivation of the cuisines of three Asian regions - South Asia, Central Asia, and Middle East. Today, Pakistani cuisine has evolved to have distinctive flavors. It is often spicy and rich with cream. In the subcontinent, beef is consumed far more extensively in Pakistan than in any other country. In contrast, seafood is not usually on the menu as it is in India and Sri Lanka.
Spices have been associated with Sri Lanka for centuries. Traders came to the island country from many different parts of the world and brought with them the diversity of cuisines. The Dutch and the Portugese left heavy influences, so too the English. Sri Lankans use spices liberally in their cooking. Some insist that Sri Lankan food is among the spiciest in the world.
Southeast Asia covers Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines to the east and Myanmar (formerly Burma) to the west. In between, you have Thailand and Malaysia as well as the maritime states of Singapore, Indonesia and East Timor. This region has broad similarities in climate and the same range of food crops is available in almost every country. Rice is widely grown and is the staple food. The influence of Arabs, Indians and Chinese is there for all to see – in the food, religions and culture. This is a legacy of the original trading communities as distinct from the impact of Portuguese, Dutch and English colonial rule.
Malaysia is made up of two parts - Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia comprising the states of Sabah and Sarawak, both of which form part of the island of Borneo. Malaysia’s cuisine truly reflects the multi-racial aspects of Malaysian society. The diversity of ethnic groups in Malaysia is not only shown up in the various dishes cooked in the country. It has also caused a melding of the foods. As with other countries in the region, rice is the staple food and it is not limited to the home grown variety. Fragrant jasmine rice from Thailand, quality Indian basmati rice and short grain Japanese rice are also extremely popular. Noodles are a popular food introduced by the Chinese. Noodles such as ‘bee hoon’ (rice vermicelli), ‘kuay teow’ (soft, white and fettuccine-like noodles), and ‘mee’ (yellow egg noodles) provide a source of carbohydrate and are just as popular. The Indian influence comes with breads such as naan, puri, paratha (also called roti canai), thosai and idli. These are commonly eaten by most Malaysians, often as part of breakfast. All of the usual meats – chicken, beef, mutton and pork – are consumed, however, religious considerations mean the native Malays, who are Mulsim, do not eat pork, and Indians, who are mostly Hindu, do not eat beef, while doctrinaire Buddhists are vegetarians. Seafood is particularly popular and relatively inexpensive. With most of the population living within 50 kms of the coastline, this is not surprising. Malaysian also grows an abundant supply of green vegetables; however, more exotic vegetables are imported from temperate countries.
Singapore, the smallest country in Southeast Asia, is an island nation located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. The cuisine of Singapore is a splendid example of the evolving of food from the ethnic diversity of this island nation. Specifically, the main elements of Singaporean food are drawn from Malay, Chinese, Indian (southern Indian styles) and Indonesian influences. In Singapore, hawker or food centres are popular open-air complexes housing many stalls that sell a variety of inexpensive food.
With more than 12,000 islands making up the Indonesian archipelago, it is impossible to summarize the diversity of its food save a few broad pointers. Rice, of course, is the staple diet of Indonesia - but there at least ten rice preparations to choose from, including the popular nasi goring. Food from the two larger islands – Java and Sumatra – illustrate the multiplicity of dishes that originate in Indonesia. Exotic Sumatran dishes made with lots of chilli, lemon grass, ginger, garlic and coriander contrast with the traditionally very simple and frugal meals served in Java.
Indigenous and Chinese influences can still be found here, but the long period of Spanish colonisation has left an indelible influence on the Filipino cuisine. The country was also under American rule for a period of time before becoming fully independent and this is evident in the fast food culture!
Thai food is known for its enthusiastic use of fresh herbs and spices as well as fish sauce. Generally, the cooking style here is known for its balance of four basic flavours - hot (chilli), sour, sweet and salty. A fifth flavour – bitterness – is optional. Although better known as a single cuisine, Thai food is probably more accurately classified by its four regions. As a result, the more discerning consumers would identify the food as coming from the North, Northeast, Central or South.
Burma sits between China, India and Thailand and there is no doubting the influences that these neighbors have had on the local cuisine. Yet despite this, its cuisine has unique preparation techniques resulting in flavours not found in the other countries. Seafood is a favourite with the coastal Burmese but fish and shrimp are also consumed inland due to the presence of rivers and lakes. Vegetarian dishes are quite common with large sections of the Buddhist and Muslim population abstaining from beef and pork.
Vietnam is a country of sublime natural beauty and around 85 million people. Broadly, there are three regional cuisines – traditional preparations in the north, food with exotic Chinese influences in the south, and dishes from the central region which exhibit distinctively spicy flavours. Yet there are several themes that are common to Vietnamese cooking – freshness and the use of fish sauce, mint leaves, bean sprouts, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves are typical.
Latasha's Kitchen, Latasha's Place Pty Ltd
ABN: 66 102 906 927
745 Newcastle St, Leederville WA 6007
Telephone: +61 8 9328 8184
Email: info@latashaskitchen.com.au