Food Culture

The traditions behind the menu — what is eaten, avoided, or offered, and why.

Sattvic Diet — The Hindu and yogic classification that sorts every food into three qualities — sattvic (clarity and…
Turmeric in Hindu Tradition — Turmeric's place in Hindu life runs well beyond the spice tin: the same golden powder that colors a …
Jain Food Rules — The Jain diet is one of the strictest vegetarian traditions in the world, built on a single principl…
Diwali Foods — Diwali is the festival of lights, and just as surely the festival of sweets. In the weeks before it,…
Holi Foods — Holi, the spring festival of colors, arrives with a food spread as recognizable as the powder itself…
Navratri Fasting Foods — Navratri — nine nights devoted to the goddess Durga — is observed by millions with a fast, called vr…
Ayurveda and the Six Tastes — Ayurveda, India's classical system of medicine, sorts everything edible into six tastes — shad rasa:…
Nepali Festival Foods — Nepal's festival calendar sets its table. Dasain, the country's biggest festival, means goat curry o…