Heritage and History

ورثہ اور تاریخ

Virsa aur Tareekh

South Asian food has a fascinating, complicated and heartbreaking history, especially when we start to delve into trade and colonisation.

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When I started this blog, I wanted to have a better understanding of South Asian food and where it comes from but this led me to dig deeper on how certain foods literally changed the course of history and how we go about our lives today.

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Growing up in the UK, I only learnt about British history, World Wars and covered a little on the British Empire, which I found fascinating as it involved my ancestors. Since Pakistan has a fairly young history and tracing family history is difficult, I’ve struggled with my identity and where I come from which was amplified by being a second generation immigrant.

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Sabzi Khor has allowed me to research, understand and connect to my heritage through the means of food, which makes it that more interesting and fun for me to learn.

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I know there is a lot of feeling of loss and wounding in the South Asian community as a result of colonisation and so I want to shed light on these topics, have a better understanding and heal together as a community. There is also so much to be proud of when it comes to food and our heritage which I also want to bring into the light (like the process of refining sugar being invented by the Indus Civilization!).

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Knowing our history through food, the good and the bad, has been so healing for me and I hope it can be for the wider community or at least inspire others to learn, research and heal on their own terms.