Naomi Duguid goes to Burma

In the summer of 2011, I was invited to a lunch at the home of Toronto cookbook author Jennifer McLagan.

Among the guests was Naomi Duguid, the co-author of such glorious cookbooks as Flatbreads and Flavours, Seductions of Rice, Mangoes and Curry Leaves and, most famously, Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. Duguid is royalty in cookbook circles, not only in Canada but internationally. Her books have won every major award. She and her fellow globe-trotting co-author and ex-husband Jeffrey Alford have been profiled by the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Atlantic â€" everyone.

In the food world, Duguid is a star, and yet you’d be hard-pressed to find a less affected cookbook author in this world of Marthas, Nigellas and Giadas. Within minutes at the table, Duguid is discussing myriad topics, and then casually mentions that she’s finishing up testing recipes for her new cookbook on Burma.

When the book, Burma: Rivers of Flavour (Random House Canada) was released in September, accolades were immediate. For this book Duguid worked solo, and the results of her 11 trips to Burma (starting in 1980, three times as a tourist and then eight specifically for research) produced a book filled with stories, history, geography, traditions, customs and a vast array of recipes far less “foreign� than one would imagine.

Having written about all the cuisines that surround the country (Burma is bordered by India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand), Duguid is well placed to understand what makes Burmese cuisine distinct. And yet Burma, a country under military rule from 1962 to 2011, posed huge challenges. Not only were there restrictions on entry visas, but Burmese food is unfamiliar to the vast majority of home cooks. Truth be told, who among us has been longing for a Burmese cookbook?

Anyone familiar with Duguid’s previous books, though, would understand why she’s drawn to a country known more for its oppressive regime than its beautiful cuisine. “Food is the entry point into every culture,� she says. “Through the book, I wanted people to imagine themselves right there, help visualize it in their mind’s eye or their mouth’s eye. I wanted to turn people on to a place that was a black hole.�

While chopping shallots in my kitchen recently while in Montreal promoting her book, Duguid explained the hows and whys. “I’m curious about the way people live,� she says, “and the way they work with what they have tells me about who they are. I’m interested in traditions and traditions that arise out of necessity. Other people can write about steak/frites. I write about things I don’t know. It’s juicy for me. I think to myself, how amazing.�

Though the military retains influence, the situation in Burma today is vastly different from when Duguid began the research for the book in late 2008. She had a few contacts on site (including a journalist who always travelled under a pseudonym and changed hotels every night), but basically travelled solo. “I like taking on a cuisine of a people,� Duguid says, “and I also liked the idea of talking to people afraid of talking. But I was sensitive to the fact that talking makes people vulnerable, putting them in a position where they might be questioned. I never spoke to anyone in the streets unless they spoke to me. There was a top-down control over the population, anything they say might ripple the waters. People were living with that constantly. But behind closed doors, it was fine.�

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2012/12/05/naomi-duguid-goes-to-burma/