Author: Dr. Mamoni Phukan Borgohain1*, Dr. Robindra Teron2†, Dr. Ajit K Tamuli3‡
1Associate Professor, Department of Botany, Moran College, Moranhat, Charaideo, Assam, India
2Associate Professor, Department of Life Science, Assam University, Silchar, Assam, India
3Assistant Professor, Department of Life Science, Assam University, Diphu Campus, Silchar, Assam, India
Electronic Address: *mamoni borgohain@rediffmail.com, †robindra.teron@aus.ac.in, ‡aktamuli1960@gmail.com
Abstract
Since immemorial time, human from all the cultures worldwide have independently selected plants as food. Furthermore, the widespread traditional uses of natural herbs and medicinal plants in curing and preventing diseases are very well described in ancient texts. The tradition and speciality of a tribe is revealed by its cuisine as it reflects the culture of the tribe. The Tai Phake is one of the most significant Tai tribes inhabiting in nine different villages of Assam and they exhibit unique culture of traditional culinary system. The dietary habit of Tai Phake is quite simple and for the requirements of the food items they mostly depend upon the natural underutilized plant resources. Uses of aromatic spices in their food items is identified as cultural marker. Rice is the staple food and their two major meals consist of rice and vegetables (Sharma Thakur, 1982). The present paper aims to explore the food habit of Tai Phake including 6 rice items, 8 vegetable items, 8 fish and 4 meat items. They preserve bamboo shoots for long period in 3different ways. Information was collected through semi-structured interview of 16 women of different villages. They have traditional technical knowledge of natural preservation of food materials. Ethnobotanical study can provide a new leaf that leads to conserve plant resources and natural preservation technology in traditional culinary system of Tai Phake.
Keywords
Tai Phake, traditional cuisine, Underutilized Plant resources, Preservation technology
