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Navruz in KyrgyzstanMarking the beginning of spring, Navruz (meaning March equinox) is one of the largest traditional holidays in Central Asia. Located in the heart of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan has been celebrating Navruz (Nooruz in Kyrgyz) for a long time as its national holiday. When the Navruz holiday comes, Kyrgyz families gather to make holiday desserts: sumolok and boorsok.\n\nIn the old times, sumolok was a ritual dish prepared before the start of spring sowing. Sumolok is a sweet paste made from germinated wheat and stir cooked in a kazan, a large traditional pot in Central Asia. Sumolok has become an important cuisine in Kyrgyz culture since almost all of Kyrgyzstan celebrates the holiday by making it. In villages and towns, families gather around a kazan full of sumolok and take turns to stirring the sumolok. Usually it takes a whole day and night to finish the cuisine, which is why a typical Navruz scene in Kyrgyzstan is pictured as a group of families sitting around a Kazan while singing and stirring sumolok.\n\nBoorsok, on the other hand, is cooked faster than sumolok. Also a traditional sweet in Central Asia, boorsok is a type of fried dough in various shapes. Kyrgyz boorsok is typically shaped like a pressed doughnut.\n\nThis year, Boorsok National Record was held in the Arashan village near the capital city, Bishkek. The event was organized by Ethnographic Complex Kyrgyz Aiyli (meaning Kyrgyz village), successfully attracting an estimated 1,500 local residents and tourists. The main programs included making boorsok, singing songs, and competing in horse riding and other national games. The participants in the boorsok cooking competition used about a ton of flour and made more than 800 kg of boorsok. Later, boxes of boorsok were sent to nearby orphanages and the elderly in Arashan Village.\n\nMarking the beginning of spring, Navruz (meaning March equinox) is one of the largest traditional holidays in Central Asia. Located in the heart of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan has been celebrating Navruz (Nooruz in Kyrgyz) for a long time as its national holiday. When the Navruz holiday comes, Kyrgyz families gather to make holiday desserts: sumolok and boorsok.\n\nIn the old times, sumolok was a ritual dish prepared before the start of spring sowing. Sumolok is a sweet paste made from germinated wheat and stir cooked in a kazan, a large traditional pot in Central Asia. Sumolok has become an important cuisine in Kyrgyz culture since almost all of Kyrgyzstan celebrates the holiday by making it. In villages and towns, families gather around a kazan full of sumolok and take turns to stirring the sumolok. Usually it takes a whole day and night to finish the cuisine, which is why a typical Navruz scene in Kyrgyzstan is pictured as a group of families sitting around a Kazan while singing and stirring sumolok.\n\nBoorsok, on the other hand, is cooked faster than sumolok. Also a traditional sweet in Central Asia, boorsok is a type of fried dough in various shapes. Kyrgyz boorsok is typically shaped like a pressed doughnut.\n\nThis year, Boorsok National Record was held in the Arashan village near the capital city, Bishkek. The event was organized by Ethnographic Complex Kyrgyz Aiyli (meaning Kyrgyz village), successfully attracting an estimated 1,500 local residents and tourists. The main programs included making boorsok, singing songs, and competing in horse riding and other national games. The participants in the boorsok cooking competition used about a ton of flour and made more than 800 kg of boorsok. Later, boxes of boorsok were sent to nearby orphanages and the elderly in Arashan Village.\n\nMore information about Navruz is available in ICHCAP’s e-Knowledge Center.\n\nWatch Other Navruz Videos\nNavruz is celebrated throughout Central Asia, with each ethnic group having its own take on the holiday. The videos of Tajik and Uzbek celebrations below are from ICHCAP’s Central Asia ICH Collection.Year2018NationKyrgyzstan
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NAVRUZ, SHARING TOGETHER ON NEW YEAR’S DAY—SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE CULTURE OF NAVRUZNavruz (Nowruz) is not just about the first day of spring, but it is also not just a celebration of the New Year marked by indulging in a feast; it has a much wider historical and cultural context with deep doctrinal significance.Year2011NationSouth Korea
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SINGAPO人—Discovering Chinese Singaporean Culture through Food, Festivals, and LanguageSingapore is a tiny Southeast Asian nation-state located in a region with many ethnic groups, of which the Chinese comprise only a small percentage of the overall population. Yet, the Chinese form the majority in Singapore, living alongside a significant proportion of non-Chinese. Over many years, this has led to a Chinese Singaporean identity that is complex and ever-changing.\n\nIn 2020, the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre launched a permanent exhibition to encourage greater appreciation of the distinctiveness of Chinese culture in Singapore through examples of food, festivals, and languages. For the exhibition title to reflect Singapore’s linguistic diversity, the curators invented a word by combining English and Mandarin—the two most widely spoken languages in Singapore. The first element of the title “Singapo” is drawn from the country’s English name while the “人” element is the Chinese character for “person” (pronounced as “ren” in Mandarin). Hence, by reading the two elements together, the exhibition title “ SINGAPO人” sounds like “Singaporean!”\n\nTo provide the context, the exhibition begins with an examination of five key historical socio-geographical aspects about Singapore that led the local Chinese community to develop differently. They comprised the legacy of 150 years of British colonial rule, its location in tropical Southeast Asia, heritage of early Chinese migrants who were mostly from the southern coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, the co-existence of a relatively large proportion of non-Chinese minorities, and Singapore’s reliance on global trade and connectivity for its economic survival.\n\nThese five aspects may be summarized into three basic driving forces that have shaped and continue to shape the Chinese culture in Singapore today. Firstly, there is Chinese heritage, which the early migrants brought to Singapore. These include their values (as reflected in festivals and practices), belief systems, language, customs, and food dishes that originated from China. Secondly, there are the cultural interactions among the different southern Chinese sub-groups (dialect groups) and between the Chinese community and the other ethnic groups in Singapore. These interactions ranged from the casual, such as attending to daily chores, to deeper levels of engagement, such as inter-marriage. These led to changes and adaptations to the way of life of the local Chinese. Thirdly, the Chinese community was also affected by how Singapore was governed. Whether during the colonial period or post-independence, all governments seek to shape society to achieve certain objectives. Hence, the impact of public policies and laws on cultural development is significant.\n\nIn other words, these are the three underlying key ingredients that give the Chinese Singaporean ‘recipe’ its distinct flavor. For instance, this is reflected in the way Chinese New Year is celebrated in Singapore. Firstly, the festival is a tradition that originated in China, and as such, is part of Chinese heritage (first ingredient). Although Chinese New Year does not coincide with the new year of the Gregorian calendar used in Singapore, it is nevertheless a public holiday and held in high regard by the local Chinese because it is a festival that emphasizes family togetherness and filial piety. Secondly, Singaporeans love to eat pineapple tarts and love letters during Chinese New Year. However, these snacks did not originate from China. Rather, they were made popular by the Peranakan (local-born) Chinese who often adopted Western techniques like the baking oven, and Western ingredients such as butter in their cuisine. This type of hybrid food is an example of cultural interaction (second ingredient) at work. Thirdly, during Chinese New Year, Singaporeans enjoy attending local festive events like Chingay and River Hongbao. These are large-scale public events organized by the state or state-sponsored organizations. This is an example of public policies (third ingredient) shaping the way in which Chinese New Year is celebrated in Singapore.\n\nHence, these three ingredients, found in many overseas Chinese communities, were present in the past and continue to exist in Singapore today. The influence of each ingredient varies with time, creating complex outcomes that shape Chinese Singaporean culture.\n\nFor more information about the exhibition SINGAPO 人, please refer to the SCCC website at: https://singaporeccc.org.sg/permanent-exhibition/\n\nPhotos 1~4 : The exhibition uses both physical and digital media content to engage visitors. © Low Sze WeeYear2021NationSingapore
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Mini-Museums in the Neighborhood: Singapore’s Street Corner Heritage GalleriesSingapore launched its second series of Street Corner Heritage Galleries for traditional trades and businesses on 22 April 2021. The scheme invites qualifying traditional trades and businesses with at least thirty years of history to collaborate with the National Heritage Board of Singapore (NHB) to co-curate heritage galleries to be hosted within the premises of these traditional trades and businesses.\n\nThe second series of heritage galleries showcases the rich and diverse heritage of traditional trades and businesses in the historical Kampong Gelam precinct, their products as well as their respective intangible cultural heritage (ICH) elements through mini mobile galleries featuring a write-up and the display of historical documents, photographs, objects, etc.\n\nUnder the scheme, NHB will partner qualifying traditional trades and businesses to carry out research and co-curate the mini galleries. NHB will also provide training and funding support for these trades and businesses to develop and offer heritage programs and to feature these programs in national and/or precinct-level festivals.\n\nThere are a total of seven traditional trades and businesses featured in the second series of NHB’s Street Corner Heritage Galleries. They include four food and beverage outlets, one perfumery shop, one Islamic products and perfumery shop, and one haberdashery store.\n\nThe scheme is part of NHB’s five-year master plan, Our SG Heritage Plan, which seeks to display heritage in everyday places to encourage greater public awareness and appreciation of heritage. The second series of Street Corner Heritage Galleries follows the first series, which was launched in 2020 and featured five traditional trades and businesses within the Balestier precinct.\n\nNHB will be extending the scheme to showcase more traditional trades and businesses in Little India in 2021 followed by Chinatown and Geylang Serai in 2022. Overall, NHB hopes to roll out the scheme to cover five different precincts and to co-create a total of thirty Street Corner Heritage Galleries across these precincts by the end of 2022.\n\nThrough the Street Corner Heritage Galleries scheme, NHB hopes to encourage traditional trades and businesses to document and showcase their heritage; develop a network of “mini-museums” across different precincts; and create surprising heritage encounters for visitors to each precinct as part of NHB’s placemaking efforts.\n\nTo find out more about the second series of Singapore’s Street Corner Heritage Galleries, please click on the following link: https://www.roots.gov.sg/stories-landing/stories/street-corner-heritage-galleries-kampong-gelam\n\nPhoto 1 : The family-run haberdashery shop, Sin Hin Chuan Kee, which sells zippers, thread, buttons, lace, and other assorted accessories. Courtesy of National Heritage Board, Singapore\nPhoto 2 : The family-run restaurant, Warong Nasi Pariaman, which specializes in nasi padang dishes. Courtesy of National Heritage Board, SingaporeYear2021NationSingapore
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The festival of harvest: OnamOnam is a major harvest festival celebrated in the Indian state of Kerala. The 10-day Onam festival marks the onset of the first month according to the Malayalam calendar called Chingam and generally occurs in the months of August or September every year. Due to the COVID -19, the festival saw major restrictions, however, it was celebrated with much enthusiasm between 12th August until 23rd August 2021 keeping in mind all the COVID protocols.\n\nThe origin of the festival can also be traced from various regional sources. According to the folk song ‘Maveli Naadu Vaanidum Kaalam’, Mahabali was a very kind-hearted and generous king. Under his rule, there were no theft, lies, hunger, or jealousy among his people. It is said that people were so happy under his rule that they no longer felt the need to pray or make offerings to the Gods. He was beginning to rule all three worlds which infuriated Lord Indra and gods. To take control of the situation, Lord Vishnu took his fifth avatar of a Brahmin dwarf named ‘Vamana’. As Vamana, he appeared before Mahabali and made a wish for three feet of land for penance. In his first and second steps, he covered the heavens and the hell. Mahabali, seeing this, offered his own head for the third step. Impressed by this action, Lord Vishnu appeared as himself before Mahabali to bless him. Lord Vishnu granted a boon to Mahabali that he can visit his beloved people once a year. As a result, the homecoming of king Mahabali is celebrated as Onam.\n\nOnam combines elaborate festivities that include food, dance, cultural clothing, flower decoration, etc. Each house performs such functions with sheer enthusiasm and love for our culture while supporting agricultural practices. One of the most popular components of the festival is the food. Onam Sadhya is a multi-course meal that includes 26 different food items prepared with local ingredients. Some of the dishes include Rice, Avial (a dish prepared by cooking vegetables in mango and ground coconut), Olan, Sambhar, Rasam, banana and jaggery chips, Pappadam, followed by at least 2 varieties of Payasam (a milk-based sweet prepared with rice, wheat etc). These are only a handful of items prepared in the diverse state of Kerala also known as the land of spices.\n\nThe other aspects of the festival include elaborate decorations that include the extensive use of local and colorful flowers. Pookkalam (floor designs with flowers) are made every day of the festival and various games like Vadam Vali (tug of war), Puli Kali (folk art from Kerala), Vallam Kali (Boat Race), are played during the festival.\n\nThe festival is a great reflection of the cultural heritage of Kerala. Families are seen wearing traditional attires that include Kasavu/Set Sarees for women and Mundu for men. There is a tradition of gifting new clothes called Ona Kodi to other members of the family. The festival is celebrated with great energy with the enthusiasm of beginning a new year according to the Malayalam calendar in Kerala.\n\nThe author would like to thank and acknowledge the contribution of various people from Kerala including Aravind Nair, Kavya Nair, Mariam Rauf, Sarath Ninan Mathew, Vishnu Vijayan, and others who have shared valuable information about the festival.\n\nphoto 1 : Onam Pookalam © Yugaljoshi\nphoto 2 : Onam sadya © kavya_adigaYear2021NationIndia
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A Tale of Two Curries: Culinary Tradition as a Form of Cultural Heritage'Like this,’ the old woman says, raking her fingers through red lentils clouding a stream of bottled water. We’re crowded together in the kitchen of the guesthouse I am staying in—consisting of not much more than a single gas burner, a rice cooker, a table, and a shelf full of an array of spices—in a village on the outskirts of Kandy, Sri Lanka. While my hostess demonstrates how she makes the dahl, she feeds hungry travelers, and her daughter marinates chicken for a second curry. The way the pair dance through their routine tells me they’ve done this many times before, I imagine both in the presence of foreign guests as well as in the comfortable silence of private company.\n\nThe cooking lesson my hostess gave me years ago has evidently stuck with me in memory, and in practice, as I try my hand at the recipes, I was taught. The preparation of food, after all, is not just a duty performed by people out of necessity but also a ritual cherished across cultures. It can unite the members of a household, each individual playing a role in the making of a meal, from sourcing ingredients to cooking the dishes to laying the table. Though their responsibilities might differ from culture to culture, the collaborative element of preparing to eat together is one that can bind the women and the men, the young and the old, the past and the present.\n\nRecipes themselves are more often passed between generations hand to hand rather than neatly written on recipe cards, as grandmothers and grandfathers teach their young ones to simmer and season a dish to perfection. It’s a part oral tradition and, part ritual, and in this manner, tradition can be maintained, not just the combinations of ingredients that come together in proper proportions, but the act of making something together, whether as a family, community, or patchwork group of temporary visitors.\n\nThat tradition can then become characteristic of an entire region or country, as can any cultural craft. But culinary customs have exceptional quality, as the tradition can be intimately experienced by family members and foreigners alike. Anyone who participates in local cuisine is invited to taste the past and present of a people in a single bite. As traditional meals feed the bellies and satiate the souls of entire nations and their visitors, tradition is kept alive not only in the art of making the meal but in those it substantiates in both body and spirit. This is how heritage is kept alive; when it continues to nourish people.\n\nHeritage is also invited to take a seat at modern tables when the keepers of local traditions share the customs they’ve inherited. When foreigners, for instance, take the initiative to learn the ingredients, recipes, etiquette, and conversation that circulate the kitchen in a culture that is not their own and they are permitted to do so, they are offered a glimpse at so much more than just local cuisine. They are personally introduced to a custom that has preceded even grandmothers’ generations, one that remains alive thanks to the conscious dedication to tradition and its maintenance. In this process, which we may be privileged to take part in as we travel, intangible elements of cultural heritage are shared, rehearsed, and solidified. A magical merger can happen between local and foreign, and between ancestors and today is made possible.\n\nSo it’s no wonder that something more potent than curry spice lingers at the table in Sri Lanka after we have prepared dinner and sat together to eat. The simple act of cooking and sharing a meal carries far more weight than I then realized, although I could feel it; a sense of being tied together with not only the people in the room but with those who built this tradition so long ago. This invisible connection remains uncompromised by the limited language and experiences people of different walks of life are expected to have in common. And it’s a sentiment I encourage travelers to seek to experience anywhere they go, no matter how different and far-flung those corners of the globe might be. When we explore culinary traditions and local teachings, we approach the vast and various nuances that characterize culture and ultimately participating in the preservation of tradition.\n\nMore of Issabella’s work is available at museandwander.co.uk\n\nPhoto : Split Red Lentil Seeds Ready for Curry CC BY-SA 4.0 Sanjay AcharyaYear2020NationSri Lanka
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The Recipe and History of Thai Tomyam KungTomyam kung, or spicy shrimp soup, is a typical Thai dish that became popular only 50 years ago. Tomyam kung is a hot soup made by mixing various ingredients, including herbs, in boiling water. The basic ingredients include ground cilantro root, lemongrass, galangal, torn kaffir lime leaves, lime juice, fish sauce, bird’s-eye chilies and shrimps. In addition, mushroom, tomatoes, and onions may be added depending on preference. \n\nThe word “tomyam” is a compound word in the Thai language. It consists of two words — “tom” and “yam,” which mean “boiling” and “mixing,” respectively. These two words refer to the Thai cooking process. \n\nTomyam is a traditional Thai dish originating from the country’s central region. The oldest recipe was found in King Rama V’s reign. It was stated that only snakehead fish and stingray should be used in tomyam pla, or spicy fish soup. There are some secondary sources referring to dishes that had similar ingredients and recipes to tomyam kung. However, they still lacked some of the important ingredients that are familiar in the dish today, such as lemongrass, galangal, and torn kaffir lime leaves.\n\nThe very first “tomyam kung” recipe appeared in a book, Khong Sawoei (Thai royal cuisine), written by Mom Rajawongse Kitinadda Kitiyakara. The writer cooked fresh shrimp soup for His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great (Rama IX), Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother, and the prince and princesses at the Klai Kangwon Palace, Hua Hin, in 1962. The recipe started with the instruction to make a soup from shrimp shells and heads, seasoned with fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves, and lemongrass. This was then strained to retain only the broth, which was poured into a bowl of boiled shrimp and seasoned with lime juice. Ground chilies and more fish sauce were added before serving. \n\nThe precise flavor of tomyam kung has never been fixed; it can be seasoned according to the consumer’s preferred tastes. However, a basic recipe is as follows:\n\nSlice the lemongrass, galangal, tomatoes, chilies, mushrooms, and shrimp\nBring a pot of water to the boil on the stove \nAdd the sliced lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves\nBoil for about 5 minutes and then add the shrimp\nAdd the sliced Thai chilies, mushrooms, and tomatoes\nFlavor by adding a little fish sauce and sugar (you can add more if desired)\nTake the pot off the heat and squeeze in the lime juice (if you do this before taking the pot off the stove, the heat will turn the lime juice bitter) \nThere are in fact types of tomyam kung: clear and thick. The clear soup is the original style, while coconut milk is added to make the thick variety.\n\nTomyam kung is a Thai national soup that very popular among both Thais and non-Thais. It has high nutritional value and is not too spicy. Its fragrance derives from vegetables and spices that are thought to help blood circulation, bringing good health. Tomyam kung is a very popular dish in every Thai restaurant. In addition, many popular snacks and instant noodles also use the flavors of tomyam kung. \n\nIn 2011, tomyam kung was inscribed by the Department of Cultural Promotion, Ministry of Culture on the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage under the domain of Knowledge and Practices Concerning Nature and the Universe. Recently, the government of Thailand is seeking to have tomyam kung listed by UNESCO as part of the country’s cultural heritage.\n\nPhoto : Tomyam Kung ⓒ shutterstockYear2019NationThailand
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Maritime Foods of the Coastal Communities in Central Vietnam: Heritage, Values and Changes in Contemporary ContextVietnam has many coastal provinces with about twenty-nine million residents living a life associated with the sea. Among them are fourteen provinces in Central Vietnam with over twenty-one million residents.\n\nFor generations, the traditional foods of the inhabitants in Central Vietnam, especially the coastal communities, have been sourced from the sea, or from the natural coastal environment, including wild animals\nand plants. Thanks to ingenious and skillful processing and cooking experience passed down through generations, the people of the central coast of Vietnam have created diverse and unique maritime foods. The marine foods of the coastal communities in Central Vietnam include recipes for: raw, steamed, boiled, grilled, fermented, and fried dishes.\n\nThis paper provides an overview and the value of the marine foods in Central Vietnam and considers these foods intangible cultural heritage of the community that needs to be maintained and preserved. This paper also points out the risks that these foods face due to climate change and overfishing, leading to reduced resources for processing. This has changed the food structure in the traditional meal of the coastal communities in Central Vietnam, changing the value of this intangible cultural heritage.Year2021NationSouth Korea
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Recreating the Taste of HomeThe biggest North Korean migrant community outside East Asia is located in a somewhat unlikely place, New Malden, UK, a suburb in southwest London (see Figure 1). Approximately 1,000 North Koreans live alongside the established community of over 12,000 South Koreans. In the foreign kitchen, what North Korean migrants do is recreate authentic traditional North Korean food that they have not had for such a long time. Decades of famine and national isolation have alienated people from basic meals and dishes that are part of the history and traditions of their country.Year2019NationSouth Korea
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Preparing the Good LifeThese children attend a Sámi kindergarten, and as the example above shows, they are learning—in the practical way—about traditional Sámi food as a part of their day in the kindergarten. This article will look into the importance transmitting traditional knowledge about food and the food-chain process, from raw nature materials to cooked dishes served on the table to the young generation, and highlight some examples of good and healthy traditional food.Year2019NationSouth Korea
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COVID-19 Special: Singapore’s #RamadanTogether CampaignRamadan is the ninth month on the Islamic calendar and the holiest month of the year for Muslims all over the world. During this period, Muslims fast (referred to as puasa in Malay) from sunrise to sunset every day throughout the month. Muslims will have their breakfast before sunrise (sahur) and they will break the fast after sunset (iftar).\n\nPrior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Muslims in Singapore visited mosques for their daily prayers and were encouraged to take part in an extra session of night prayers known as terawih during Ramadan. Muslim families as well as Singaporeans would throng the streets of Geylang Serai and Jalan Bussorah to enjoy outdoor street markets selling a wide variety of Malay culinary delights, gifts, and clothes.\n\nDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, mosques in Singapore are closed until further notice, and all Singaporeans are encouraged to stay at home. As a result, the Muslim community is unable to breakfasts together at the mosque and/or visit one another during Hari Raya Puasa, a celebration that marks the end of the fasting month.\n\nIn view of the above, the National Heritage Board of Singapore (NHB) and the Malay Heritage Centre (MHC) decided to collaborate on the #RamadanTogether campaign which seeks to connect the Muslim community through digital platforms and to educate the non-Muslim community on the intangible cultural heritage practices associated with Ramadan.\n\nThe month-long campaign comprises three key components: “Iftar Together,” which encourages Muslims to break the fast together online; “Masak Together,” which shares recipes on how to make traditional Hari Raya dishes at home; and “Concert Together,” which features “live” performances from local artists and arts groups.\n\nTo complement NHB’s digital offerings, MHC will also be producing a series of digital programs hosted on its social media platforms that feature community contributions. These include cooking and baking tutorials by well-known Malay personalities who will showcase family recipes for breaking the fast as well as traditional Hari Raya dishes. Videos and animations on traditional Hari Raya attire such as the baju kurung (a traditional loose-fitting outfit) and the kebaya (a traditional women’s dress) will also be produced.\n\nMHC’s #OnXOnRayaFest campaign will also involve a callout to members of the public to contribute user-generated content on how Hari Raya was celebrated in the past and how it is celebrated during these COVID-19 times to document the impact of the pandemic on intangible cultural heritage as practiced in the homes of the Muslim community in Singapore. Photo submissions from members of the public will be put up on MHC’s social media platforms and creative submissions will stand a chance to win attractive merchandise.\n\nIn addition, as part of its ongoing education and outreach efforts, MHC will also provide a glossary of terms associated with Ramadan and Hari Raya Puasa, offer bite-sized information focusing on Malay heritage and culture, and share traditional pantun (rhyming quatrains) greetings. MHC will also be working with local arts groups to produce Hari Raya music videos that will be filmed from home, to reach out to the community and lift up their spirits during the COVID-19 period.\n\nTo find out more about NHB’s #RamadanTogether campaign and MHC’s #OnxOnRayaFest campaign, please click on the following links: www.roots.sg/ramadan. and Malay Heritage Centre’s www.facebook.com/malayheritage respectively.\n\nPhoto : RamadanTogether Campaign ⓒ NHBYear2020NationSingapore
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Dizi, The Narration of Persian Family CeremoniesEvery nation has its comfort and social foods. Dishes play an influential role as a social object that interacts with people at the table. These recipes are more than just something to eat.\n\nAbgoosht or dizi is a unique, national, and comfort course in Persia. Relatively new, but shows the best of the culinary art in this land. In a word, abgoosht means meat and stock and is the general name for the mixture of meat, legumes, vegetables, and herbs with its own traditional eating habits, tools, side dishes, drinks, and even special dessert. It’s Persian folklore eating habits and a meal prescribed to cure illness.\n\nAbgoosht is a new dish in the Persian kitchen, but it descends from the mighty Safavid kitchen. Cooking a fine cut of lamb with spices between four to six and even ten hours is a subtle oriental cooking technique. The key to a good abgoosht is not losing any water during cooking so, chefs use many methods to keep the moisture locked into the pot. There are around eighty well-known types of this food in Persia, and the ingredients vary from region to region. Ingredients vary, even seasonal, and it follows today guidelines of sustainable food eating habits, and the meat can be substituted with the goat, veal, mutton, chicken, duck, etc.\n\nThis existing dish also has a special custom and tricky habit that would make this recipe even more interesting to try. First of all, you must strain the solid parts of the dish into a bowl and mash them with a mortar until it turns into a soft texture. The name of this part is Goosht-Koubideh eaten with warm oriental bread, herbs, and raw onion; the liquid portion is eaten with cracked and soaked bread like a soup. Abgoosht well developed after the Persian famines to not lose even one calorie of ingredients. So, when the “Goosht-Koubideh” is leftover, some cooks mixed it with eggs and fried the dough in a shallow pan to preserve the food even longer.\n\nSome unique Persian side dishes make the taste unforgettable, side dishes like torshi (pickled vegetables), fresh herbs (mostly reddish and basil), strained yogurt with shallots, etc. Dizi, is accompanied with a drink, a fermented savory yogurt-based beverage usually mixed with dried herbs like thyme or mint. And as the last course of the meal, it’s tradition to have a cup of hot black tea served with rock candy or some other Persian sweets to make the pleasure of trying a rich and nutritious Persian meal.\n\nAbgoosht is one of the most famous Persian dishes among the people, and it is enjoyed on busy days for lunch or after work. There are places around the bazaars in big cities that only serve dizi; these establishments are called dizi-sara (the house of dizi). People get together on big social tables, the floor, or even on beds in restaurants to enjoy this hearty meal.\n\nIn the past, four or even eight people shared a big pot of dizi without knowing each other, and that was a fun way to talk about politics, society, and work. Dizi is also served in ghahve-khane (coffee house) as a lunch that ends with two or three cups of tea with hookah for smoking as a dessert and listening to some ancient folklore narrations from the famous Shahnameh.\n\nThe name of ‘dizi’ itself reflects the pot that the food is cooked in. In Khorasan, artisans make dizi pots from unique stones that keep the heat long and effectively, which is it is one of the best pots for making dizi. The food is traditionally eaten on holiday lunches with the whole family gathered in elders’ houses. It is a social recipe that brings family members together around the table.\n\nYou can have dizi in many other countries around Persia, as culinary cultures with varied recipes have inherited it. Dizi traveled to many neighboring countries and mixed with their own kitchen. Piti is a kind of abgoosht famous in south Caucasian countries like Azerbaijan and parts of Georgia. Also, Iraqi people enjoy tashreeb, the same cooking pattern of dizi making and eating that assimilated in Iraqi culinary traditions.\n\nPhoto : Dizi feast © Mohammad ShirkavandYear2020NationIran