Welhite Naro proudly proffers his fried spiders and grilled crickets along with a somewhat less exotic dish of millet and squash -- a small sample of the disappearing delicacies of India's remote northeast. Naro is a farmer from Nagaland, one of the eight states that make up nort
Welhite Naro proudly proffers his fried spiders and grilled crickets along with a somewhat less exotic dish of millet and squash -- a small sample of the disappearing delicacies of India's remote northeast.
Naro is a farmer from Nagaland, one of the eight states that make up northeast India -- an area connected to the rest of the country by only a narrow sliver of land and with its own distinct cultural and culinary traditions.
"This is a snail collected from the paddy (rice) field," he told visitors at a recent international food fair as he encouraged them to taste his produce.
"You have to eat it like this," he said, as he demonstrated sucking the snail from its shell.
Naro was one of around 40 exhibitors gathered in the northeastern state of Meghalaya for the Mei-Ramew festival, supported by the global Slow Food movement that is based in Italy and promotes local traditional cuisine.
Geographically isolated from the rest of India, the northeast has maintained a food culture all of its own.
Beef is widely consumed, despite laws against slaughtering cattle in other parts of Hindu-majority India, where a campaign for a nationwide ban is gathering steam.
Pork -- the staple meat of neighbouring China but relatively scarce in most of India -- features prominently on the dinner tables of the northeast.
The region is also home to a wealth of plant varieties that experts say are dying out as diets become more standardised -- a global trend that the Slow Food movement wants to combat.
In this photograph taken on November 7, 2015, an Indian Naga shows a dish made of snails at The Indigenous Mei-Ramew Food Festival in Mawphlang in India’s northeastern state of Meghalaya. PHOTO: AFP
In this photograph taken on November 7, 2015, a dish made of larva is shown by a participant at The Indigenous Mei-Ramew Food Festival in Mawphlang in India’s northeastern state of Meghalaya. PHOTO: AFP
In this photograph taken on November 7, 2015, an Indian Naga shows a dish made of spiders at The Indigenous Mei-Ramew Food Festival in Mawphlang in India’s northeastern state of Meghalaya. PHOTO: AFP
