Growing up with sustainable cooking

It’s all about our food choices and how they affect local sustainability, health and the environment

I have been a second-hand witness to poverty, malnutrition, and starvation. In India, the economy was still developing while we were growing up in a middle-class family but were fortunate to be amongst the ‘haves’.

Traditionally, the Indian society has been resource-crunched and since “Necessity is the mother of invention”, this has lead to a lot of culinary innovations.

This has instilled in me a few basic practices and principles of sustainable cooking, avoiding food wastage, recycling, reusing and decomposing trash.

Growing up with limited ration and a 3 meal day for a 5 member family was no less than a challenge for my parents. We’ve always been grateful for what we had.

I’d like to narrate some of the sustainability cooking practices that we have adhered since childhood —

• Food is considered sacred in the Hindu religion and people worship the ‘Goddess of Food- Annapurna’ on auspicious occasions. Many offer daily prayers before consumption of food. Hence we were taught not to waste food in any way or form. Although both my parents were working full-time, they made sure to cook fresh food daily.
• Pulses were the main source of proteins and consumption of meat was a delicacy and prepared on special occasions. This has lead to a healthy lifestyle with enough meat as a protein supplement.
• Homemade pickles were prepared in summers with spices ground in a mortar pestle to retain a fresh aroma and taste. These were then preserved and consumed year-round. The relish of the mango pickle in winter still waters my mouth. I still prepare ginger and carrot pickle; they take me back to the nostalgic memories of my grandmother.
• My mom ensured a spoonful of Chyavanprash (a cooked mixture of sugar, honey, ghee, Indian gooseberry with a variety of herbs and spices) to strengthen our immunity. Soaked peeled almonds and walnuts were another supplements for healthy brain and cognitive performance.
• Leftovers were consumed the next day in making Khichidi (Polenta), Chapati rolls (Burrito); my mom made sure that not a single morsel is wasted. Unpalatable food was used to make organic compost or fed to the stray animals.
• Drinking water was stored in earthen pots. I distinctly remember the fragrance of mud from the chilled water to quench our thirst after a long walk in the scorching heat of Indian summer. Water was served from a copperware. Scientific studies show that nutrients from both earthenware and copper play a vital role in nourishment for hair and skin.
• Metals like steel, brass, and copper were used to serve beverages. I do not have a single memory where we used plasticware in our kitchen. Seasonally, mango and lemon were used in summers for aan-panna(tangy mango drink) and lemonade. These have been renowned for its heat-resistant properties. Winter evenings were relished with herbal tea with ginger, cardamom, black pepper and basil leaves. I don’t remember ever having processed milk or juice. Everything was home-made and locally sourced.
• Cooking was mostly done in Iron or steel skillets. Few of the recipes like cabbage and fried potatoes produced a brownish color and great aroma when cooked in iron skillets that had inherent non-stick properties.
• My mother ensured to consume each part of the vegetable. We have grown up eating unique recipes of cauliflower stems, radish leaves, and stir-fried peas peel. We consumed Chenopodium; it is often considered as a weed in some regions. Chenopodium or Bathua as we call them in India, has many nutritional and medicinal properties.
• Injuries, pains or wounds were treated with turmeric hot milk having exceptional healing properties.
• While fasting, we made numerous recipes from buckwheat flour. Nursing mothers were served with sesame and jaggery sweetened balls along with balls of edible tree gum (called Gond in India) are well known for their healing properties and immunity strengthening.
• Whenever we had a picnic or an outing, we made sure to carry disposable plates and avoid plastic as much as we could.
• Silverwares were exchanged as gifts during housewarming or a baby shower; gifts that are sturdy and can be used over generations to come were always preferred and valued.

I am proud that our upbringing instilled in us harmony with nature and a sustainable cooking lifestyle.

But, I am afraid some of these traditions are oral and not very well documented or understood by the current generation. These traditions and practices were passed down to us from generation to generation.

With recent research and studies around traditional practices and culinary cultures it is becoming imperative that we readopt and transform our cooking habits.

Some examples of these being followed in western cultures are —

• Buckwheat flour has become popular in the west and people are consuming it in many forms like cookies, pancakes and breads.
• Turmeric milk is popular as ‘turmeric latte’ in the Starbucks stores.
• Metals like copper and brass have reclaimed their place in homes and people love to buy them to not only improve the aesthetics while understanding the benefits of using them. Chefs are branding the iron skillets and they are seen in abundance in home decor shops.
• ‘Eat organic, eat fresh’ is the new cheering slogan in the food world and people understand its importance more than ever.

I hope these extraordinary and challenging times would bring more variations and innovations in food habits and people will seek a sustainable and healthy living.

Follow me on Medium or check my website for more such articles.