KARACHI: A book titled Companion to Pakistani Cuisine edited by Shanaz Ramzi was launched at the Alliance Francaise on Friday evening.

Speaking on the occasion, Arshad Husain, Managing Director of Oxford University Press (OUP) which has published the book, said food is the essential overall part of Pakistani culture, our primary source of pleasure and comfort in life.

He said the passion for food is shared by Ms Ramzi, the editor of the book. Her first book Food Prints — An Epicurean Voyage through Pakistan also published by OUP celebrated the diversity of our cuisine. “Today, we have the pleasure of launching Companion to Pakistani Cuisine that describes how Pakistan’s diverse cuisine has been influenced by its rich history and varied topography. It is at once as old as the most ancient civilisation that once inhabited these lands and as young as the latest recipes that we download from the internet. This book aims to encompass all major aspects of Pakistan’s culinary offerings. It draws on subjects like archaeology, history, botany and anthropology. The heart of the book is an exhaustive but meticulous selection of subjects relating to Pakistani cuisine, dishes and food customs with detailed entries on them by experts on history and food ethos of Pakistan.”

Expressing his views on the book, former federal minister Javed Jabbar said it’s an extraordinary publication.

Lauding the effort of the author, he pointed out the painstaking research, minute detail, compilation, identifying 17 contributors, chasing them to make sure they abide by the deadline, getting all that together and writing herself not only introduction but also the individual parts in the book.

Mr Jabbar said the title of the book is appropriate. Despite its slim volume it qualifies to be called an encyclopaedia because it is so rich with information that it is a delight to go through its content and to learn about each element of food that one takes for granted.

“I compliment dear friend Humayun Gauhar for his foreword, a very thoughtful and relevant one. I love the part where he refers to the fact that the shami kebab was actually invented because of a certain maharaja in South Asia had lost his teeth; he could no longer bite into tough meat. So to assist the maharaja we got the gift of the shami kebab,” he said.

He said one can judge the seriousness with which Ms Ramzi has put together the book by the fact that there’s a 20-page bibliography in it. “It is a single product and yet the numerousness, the range of food, the range of dishes, the range of material, the geographic spread that it encompasses… is so vast, panoramic. Most cook books feature colour illustrations inside, many of them are coffee table books, but the remarkable thing about this one is that it doesn’t have them. As you read the book, you realise that you don’t need the colour illustrations because the words evoke the colours, the aroma, the flavours and the tastes. They’re written so well.”

The speeches were followed by a panel discussion moderated by Sidra Iqbal and participated by Yasmeen Lari, Shaha Tariq, Shanaz Ramzi, Lal Majid, Sibtain Naqvi and Zarnak Sidhwa.

Journalist Asif Noorani’s message was read out by his son.

In the end, Shanaz Ramzi thanked all those who made the publishing of the book possible for her.

Published in Dawn, Aug 6th, 2023