Forest foods and its people

Are culinary enthusiasts forgetting the protectors of India’s traditional food knowledge, just as British-era botanical art ignored its Indian illustrators?

Tapping wild knowledge

This connection to nature and traditional knowledge was echoed during my visit to the archives of the Sarmaya Arts Foundation. Amidst the pages of rare 19thcentury books, I encountered botanical artwork that illustrated a different aspect of

India’s natural heritage. The British fascination, as captured in works such as Robert Wight’s Indian Botany and Flowers of the Bombay

Presidency, melded curiosity with conquest, meticulously documenting the country’s rich flora.

Yet, most of them overlooked the critical contributions of Indian illustrators. They were uncredited, except in rare cases such as Nathaniel Wallich’s Plantae Asiaticae Rariores, an 1830 compendium of plants from eastern India that credits three local artists: Vishnupersaud,

Gorachand and Rungaiah. This discovery resonated with me. As a chef, I have always valued the unseen hands behind our food — the farmers, foragers, and artisans. And seeing these artists acknowledged reminded me of the countless unnamed contributors in our culinary world.

The modern fascination with ‘wild foods’ among chefs and food enthusiasts mirrors this colonial botanical quest in some ways. The current trend, for instance, often lacks depth as it doesn’t acknowledge the cultural and traditional knowledge associated with these ingredients. Tribal communities are relegated to the shadows.

During the monsoon of 2022, my platform The Locavore, which champions local food movements, along with OOO Farms and a team of 16 volunteers embarked on the Wild Food Project in Palghar, Maharashtra, to document the culinary wisdom of the Kokni tribe. The Wild Food Zine, published in late 2022, highlighted over 24 different wild ingredients offering a glimpse into the tribe’s traditional knowledge and culinary practices. Inspired by this project, we are now planning another zine to further explore these rich food cultures.

Empowering the community

Working with forest communities has been eyeopening. They have coevolved with the flora in their landscapes and possess extensive knowledge: on which plants are edible or medicinal, and how to detoxify them for consumption. Our appreciation and awareness of diverse wild foods can help empower these communities and ensure the conservation of wild plants. But it requires prioritising their wellbeing.

Through my travels, I’ve seen how external influences can lead to the overharvesting of resources, like wild honey in the Himalayan belt and wild mushrooms in Goa. In these regions, the communities’ voices and concerns are often overshadowed by external commercial interests. This imbalance has led to a worrying trend where the sustainable practices are ignored in favour of more lucrative harvesting methods.

Yet, it is within these same communities that sustainable harvesting continues to thrive. This situation highlights a crucial point: that the insights and solutions we need today are often hidden in plain sight, deeply embedded within indigenous food cultures. As culinary professionals, we must create narratives that go beyond the ingredient and tell the stories of the Angami, the Mishing, the Apatani, and the countless other Indian tribes. Our duty extends beyond mere creation.

The writer and chef is founder

of The Locavore.

The third in a series of columns by sarmaya.in, a digital archive of India’s diverse histories and artistic traditions.