Bhutan is hosting the SAARC Festival for Rice Culinary and Spice Exhibition in Paro. The region’s diverse food traditions, with the rich aroma of rice dishes and regional spices, are on display at the event. While promoting cultural exchange through food, the festival aims to celebrate and preserve rice-based cuisines.
Rice, a common staple food across South Asia, has long been at the heart of the region’s culinary identity.
The festival showcases Bhutan’s variety of rice delicacies, Sri Lanka’s milk rice dish, and Nepal’s rice dumplings.
Tshering Choki, Deputy Chief Programme Officer of the Department of Culture and Dzongkha Development said, “Rice-based cuisines have been part of our tradition for a long time. However, nowadays, youths do not take much interest in cooking rice-based cuisines nor in using these culinary skills. Therefore, we organised this festival thinking that youth would come forward to learn culinary skills and spices that add flavours to it.”
Moreover, exhibitors from three SAARC countries displayed a range of indigenous spices.
According to the Director of the SAARC Cultural Centre, the festival is more than just a culinary celebration.
He said the initiative hopes to inspire younger generations to take pride in their traditional food heritage while promoting regional collaboration through shared tastes and stories.
Kaushalya Kumarasinghe (PhD), the director of SAARC Cultural Centre said, “We have a new food culture, like fast foods and people are getting used to this new food culture. That is how culture is, always changing. However, we need to preserve our tradition and other cultural aspects.”
As foods are shared and stories exchanged, the festival serves as a platform to celebrate, revive, and promote the intangible heritage of rice cuisines, the art of their preparation and the spices that add flavour to it.
Sangay Chozom
Edited by Tshering Zam
