The curious case of delicacies wedded to geography

In the recent past, the news of the tussle between Odisha and West Bengal over the origin of Rasgulla hit the headlines. Finally, this sugary battle was resolved after two-and-a-half years with West Bengal claiming the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

The news undeniably gave way to curiosity about the GI and its significance.

Citing the definition from World Intellectual Property Organization, the GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. In order to function as a GI, a sign must identify a product as originating in a given place. In addition, the qualities, characteristics or reputation of the product should be essentially due to the place of origin.

GI tags are important in the sense that they preserve the ingenuity and the formula of the dish and thus prevent them from distortion of ingredients and flavours. There are places that use the same traditional methods for their foodstuffs in this age when there is a variety of equipment available to simplify and automate the effort required. GI tags do justice to them.

Chronologically speaking, from the geographically indicated foods from India, Rasgullas need absolutely no introduction. The GI tag is claimed by West Bengal and the exact name of the foodstuff is Banglar Rasogolla. The sweet syrupy dessert made up of cottage cheese is best served cold.

After West Bengal, moving to Andhra Pradesh for their Geographically Indicated foodstuff called Bandar Laddu. This dish earned its GI tag in 2017. A dessert again, Bandar Laddus are made up mainly of ghee (clarified butter), Bengal gram and jaggery. They belong to the Machilipatnam district of Andhra Pradesh.

The next dish is again a dessert and the GI tag belongs to West Bengal. Sita Bhog, as its name suggests, is considered to be the favorite food of Sita of the Ramayana. The dish is associated with the Bardhaman district of West Bengal and thus the dish that is Geographically Indicated is called Bardhaman Sitabhog. This delectable rice and cheese dessert is lesser known in rest of India.

Subsequent one too is from West Bengal. Bardhaman Mihidana. It’s a small grain-like dessert made up of special Gobindobhog rice of West Bengal, gram flour, cardamom and saffron. Mihidana, literally means fine grains. The recipe of the dish dates back to more than a century but has received its GI tag in the year 2016.

The next from West Bengal is from Joynagar region. It is a sweetmeat prepared with ghee obtained from cow’s milk, popped rice prepared with special aromatic variety of rice, date palm jaggery, cardamom, and poppy seeds. It is a seasonal preparation available only from November to January.

Another sweet delicacy from Andhra Pradesh, which is also made as an offering to Lord Sri Venkateswara is Tirupati Laddu. It was registered as a Geographical Indication in 1999 by Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam Trust. The laddu has fixed ratio of ingredients and each laddu weighs the same (175 grams). It has a lovely smell of cardamom and ghee and is essentially made up of gram flour. The laddu distributed among pilgrims is called Proktham laddu. The laddus are made with such precision that while receiving the laddu at the counter, a scale is placed for anybody who wishes to weigh the laddu.

After Andhra, it’s Karnataka. The Dharwad Pedha is a sweet delight from the Dharwad region. The main ingredients are milk and sugar.

After the desserts come snacks and savouries.

To the state of Rajasthan, belongs the Bikaneri Bhujia geographically tagged with a town called Bikaner. It is a spicy, crisp snack made up of beans, gram flour, vegetable oil, salt and spices. Making of Bikaneri Bhujia is actually a cottage industry set up in the town of Bikaner. It is widely available in all parts of India.

Similar to the Bikaneri Bhujiya is Ratlami Sev from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh. It is a fried snack made up of gram flour and has a strong flavour of cloves.

Last but not the least in the list is Hyderabadi Haleem from Telangana. It is served as a starter in Hyderabadi cuisine. The ingredients essentially include lentils, wheat, goat meat, ghee, dry fruits, saffron, cardamom, cloves and a lot more. It is the only non-vegetarian food to have attained a GI tag from India. The dish is high on calories and imparts instant energy. That is the reason there is a tradition to consume it at iftar during Ramzan.

These dishes are not only distinct meals or desserts; they have surfaced as an art form from their respective regions. They are celebrated not merely because of their taste or popularity among the folks, instead they have become a culture and a heritage to be followed and a legacy to be passed on to the generations. GI tags invariably protect these delectable preparations from their inferior imitation. Their existence promises that ethnicities of these dishes are not compromised at any stage and thus make them immortal for all times to come.

(The author is currently working as a software engineer in Jindal Initiative on Research in IP and Competition (JIRICO) at OP Jindal Global University, Sonepat, Haryana)