Food educators are teaching young urbanites to spot what’s edible, even as chefs turn forest knowledge into fine-dining narratives
The resin of the Chinese lacquer tree can trigger intense itching. In Duhum, a remote village in Arunachal Pradesh’s Chug Valley, only one 60-year-old is known to harvest it without breaking into a rash. Phurshing, as the resin is locally known, once eased labour pain and polished tableware. Today, women from the same village are turning it into corn tarts at Damu’s Heritage Dine, an eatery rooted in Monpa tribal traditions and supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF).
Last month, the women at Damu’s trekked 12 hours out of their valley with half a kilo of foraged phurshing before flying out to Delhi for a sold-out five-course pop-up at Sidecar, a South Delhi bar, opening with their signature Phurshing Gombu, maize tarts with slow-roasted lacquer resin and yak ghee.
Last month, the women at Damu’s trekked 12 hours out of their valley with half a kilo of foraged phurshing before flying out to Delhi for a sold-out five-course pop-up at Sidecar, a South Delhi bar, opening with their signature Phurshing Gombu, maize tarts with slow-roasted lacquer resin and yak ghee.