Culinary Traditions, Aesthetics and Practices: Constructing the Cultural Identity of Amri Karbi of Northeast India

Abstract

Culinary practices are apparently clear indicators of cultural identity. The choice of food is a cultural decision. The study of food, culture and identity are intricately interrelated. The eating practices refer to the cultural or religious beliefs or individual choice. Apart from this, food reflects the socialization process of a community. This paper is an attempt to account the ‘Ingkut’ or kitchen, daily and celebratory eating habits and traditional culinary practices of Amri Karbis and explore subsequently how their cultural identity is constructed through it. Many of the culinary aesthetics and practices have been abandoned due to in-group and out-group acclimatisation, yet many of the culinary traditions have significantly engrained deeper into the social structure. Thus, this paper will also attempt to explore and document the continual culinary traditions as well as the occurring changes in food habits.