By: Devika Gurung

“What’s your favourite dish?” asked my friend. “Pizza” was my instant answer. Leave alone the taste, I had no idea what a pizza looked like. This was some 15 years ago, I had just heard about a dish called pizza which was supposed to taste good and sound good, good enough to lie to my best friend. Well that was back then……

Sikkim- a state in the North East region of India located in the Asian continent. Our state exemplifies a perfect blend of different rich cultures, religion and heritage. This amalgamation is perfectly visible in our day to day life style. The way we live, the clothes we wear, the languages we speak, the music we listen and especially in the food we eat. One cannot in particular describe a ‘typical’ Sikkimese food. Due to the prevalence of the Bhutia, Lepcha, Nepalese and Tibetan culture in the state the meaning of Sikkimese cuisine also changes with every kind of food we eat. Even Chinese cuisine has a lot of influence in our food. For instance the way we cook and the ingredients we use. This impact is understandable as we are neighbors with the Republic of China.

But Italy situated at the European continent at a distance approx. 6809kms (air distance) from Sikkim has made a great mark in our food culture. During the past few years Italian cuisine is setting its foot firm in the state. Even the inventors of this delicious cuisine could have never imagined that their invention would win numerous hearts. What used to be considered as a peasant’s meal in Italy centuries ago is now famously eaten as “pizza” by us.

Opening of the “Little Italy” restaurant at Deorali was a humble start for the Italian cuisine in the state which is now followed by the much loved Bakers Café, Café Live and Loud, Cacao, Hotlix and many more restaurants which offer Italian food (also not to forget the good old Oberoi’s Barbeque). If these restaurants were making the people fall in love with the Italian flavor then the coming up of the “Dominos” outlet in Gangtok has made the people go bonkers about the cuisine. Not only the teenagers but even the elders are sport for this food. The Dominos home service bikes seem to rest rarely.

Before when we thought of eating outside which used to occur rarely we thought of momos and chowmein. But there’s a variety to choose from and pastas and pizzas are much opted. Though we have no idea how much Italian it tastes, we just love to gorge. Everybody seems to love the Italian flavor. We can even find blended flavors like the Indian Italian and Chinese Italian ones and it is surprising that these blended formulae really sell. It’s amazing how a particular cuisine invented centuries ago far away from our place has so much impact on our food culture. Now every kid knows and has tasted the Italian flavor unlike me back then. Even I have got the privilege to do so.

Courtesy: Sikkim Mail

 

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