Pamiri farmers and their traditions take centre stage in international cookbook awards

Pamiri farmers and their traditions take centre stage in international cookbook awards

Book on the rich cultural and agricultural history of the Afghan and Tajik Pamirs wins the Gourmand cookbook awards – the most prestigious and largest award in the culinary world.

Bioversity International is proud to celebrate the success of ethnobotanist and former Bioversity International scientist Frederick van Oudenhoven, whose book With our own hands, coauthored with Stockholm Resilience Centre researcher Jamila Haider, was the winner of the prestigious Gourmand world cookbook award 2016 on Sunday 30 May.

The book, sparked by Frederik’s research in the Pamirs while at Bioversity International, contains over 100 recipes from the Pamir mountains, straddling Afghanistan and Tajikistan and home to a rich diversity of various varieties of walnuts, apples, pears, apricots, mulberries and over 150 varieties of wheat.

Described by the panel of judges as “revolutionary”, the book contextualizes each recipe in the rich cultures, rituals and traditions of the Pamiri people, their folklore and poems, their knowledge of agricultural, botanical and medicinal practices, their history and their hopes for their future.  Each chapter is enriched with stunning photographs of the lands, people, plants and dishes of the Pamirs.

Read more about the book on the Stockholm Resilience Centre website

Listen to an interview with Frederick van Oudenhoven about the book on Eat This Podcast

Photo: Pamiri people receive their copy of With our own hands. Credit: Jamila Haider