“The idea is to bring global attention to what we already have and hopefully revive what we’ve lost,” she shares. A lot of support has come from second-generation Tamils from the Eelam too,” beams Priya, who also conducts Instagram live cooking classes.
When something is so accessible to you, you don’t value it and fail to preserve and appreciate it. It is interesting how those who are not living in their motherland now, are the most concerned and interested about their history. “I receive a lot of support from Tamils from across the globe. We just need to spend time to look, learn and share,” offers Priya, whose page following is slowly inching towards the 3,000 mark. Researcher Orissa Balu’s talks have been a guide too. “There are books, scholarly researches and multiple channels that give insights into our food history.
Priya spends at least five hours daily to read and collect information about different dishes that have now either been anglicised or are lost in time. How many of us realise this?” ‘Kezhvaragu’s (finger millet) history in the Tamil context can be traced back to about 4,000 years’, ‘The name idli is derived from Ittu, Avi (Pour and steam)’, ‘Thosai (Dosa) from Thoithu sei (Ferment and use)’, ‘There are mentions about Thosai even in Sangam literature…’ In our 30-odd-minute conversation, Priya peppers almost every minute with an interesting tidbit about the Tamizhland. Popular brands have processed it into ready-tomake soups too without crediting its origins. Now, our milagu thaneer is popular across the globe. The Britishers decided to thicken it with tomatoes, vegetables and sometimes even meat to make it consumable with a spoon. It was served in a mann paanai to drink at the end of the meal as it helped in digestion. “During ancient times, this was not served with rice. We are made aware that the widely commercialised Mulligatawny soup is nothing but milagu thanneer (Pepper water), an ancient name given to rasam, a dish infused with black pepper and tamarind extract. The grids are dotted with the vernacular names of vegetables – Vidhaiavarai (beans), Pachai poo kosu (broccoli), Senkizhangu or Akkaraikizhangu (beetroot) with mouthwatering traditional recipes, and laced with pearls of Tamil wisdom. We are engrossed as we scroll down her page. I was inspired by Karim Moyer-Nocchi, a professor, who runs a historical Italian food Instag ram pa g e and I decided to dive into creating one for Tamizh food,” says the blogger, with a degree in mechanical engineering and industrial engineering. “I found pages that discussed the history of multiple other global cuisines but there were close to none for the Tamil cuisine.Īt least the ones that talked about its history. Started in 2018 as a simple page to share her culinary prowess and ancient Tamil food recipes, the page took a turn when Priya’s enthusiastic hunt on the Gram for a similar page led her to a dead end. Priya, through her Instagram page, has been serving history of the Tamizh land’s food culture to fellow enthusiasts and ‘Tamilanders’. There are mentions of the Tamale in ancient Tamil poems including one written by poet Kabilar in his Kurinji songs from the Tamil Sangam era,” she details, diving into a maze of historical references. The leaves of the Tamalam tree are called Tamala Pathram in Tamil. While Tamale is widely understood as a word for wrapped food, the etymology of the word Tamal, in ancient Tamil simply means husk or leaf. “The dish is similar to our Ilai adai/kozhukattai. That’s why we find such influences and similarities in the cuisine, among other aspects,” she explains, giving us a peek into the origins of another popular dish from the Mexican cuisine – Tamale. Linguistic evidences claim how the Mayans were Tamils from Ceylon and there was a strong Tamil presence in Mesoamerica too.
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