abstract
| - History of Bihar Cuisine Bihari cuisine has a history that can be traced to the cultures that flourished and waned in this part of the globe. References to rice abound in a variety of sources. During the days of the Buddha, rice was the staple food. The elite consumed the superior quality of rice while the inferior quality fell to the lot of the poor. At Nalanda, Hiuen Tsang was given mahasali rice to eat. Each grain was as large as a bean, and when cooked, was aromatic, and shining like no other rice. Centuries later, presenting an account of the different varieties of rice around the Gangetic basin, Abul Fazal said that if a single grain of each kind of rice was collected, they would fill a large vase. The Mughal chronicler described the rice cultivated in Patna as being ‘rare and unequalled in quality’. The shali rice was popular and much in demand in Europe, while Indians preferred the shahpasand and basmati variety of Patna rice. The Gangetic plain proved to be a fertile ground for litchis – a relatively new plant that arrived in India only during the end of the 17th century. Originally from China, Buddhist pilgrims brought the first saplings of this plant from China as a hommage to the land of the Buddha.
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