Season One, Summer 2007
Nat Pwe: Burmese Spirits and Flavors
Nats, or ghost like spirits, play a strong role in both the positive and negative events of day-to-day Burmese life. Every August the village of Taung Byone hosts a famous festival (pwe) where Spirit mediums dance the Nats, as people make offerings to stay in their favor. Inspired by this event we have created three recipes with the unique flavors of Burmese cuisine.
COOKING SHOW
This salad is inspired by the classic Lephet Thoke, or fermented tea leaf salad. Fermented green tea leaves are unique to Burmese cuisine. The fermenting of the leaves takes a while, and the packaged variety is difficult to find. The traditional salad also calls for dried shrimp paste. In this recipe, we use fresh shrimp and a green tea- infused dressing to create a similar, wonderfully unique salad. You can find the dried green tea leaves used here in Asian supermarkets.
COOKING SHOW
Although this curry is rather dry, its flavor is robust and quite nice. This is an easy and fast dinner to make, especially for those who want to try making something with Asian spices.
COOKING SHOW
These tarts are not traditional Burmese desserts. However, they do combine many of the ingredients used for traditional sweets. There is enough energizing ginger in them to turn a quiet house upside down, so keep this away from kids at night!
COOKING SHOW
Other episodes from this season
- Manly Morsels
- Nizar Qabbani Feast of Memories
- Picnic Under the Sea
- The 41st Annual Montreux Jazz Festival
- Barley: Summer's Most Cooling Grain
- Celebrating the Oaxacan Guelaguetza
- Coconuts: Taste Yourself Away
- Nat Pwe: Burmese Spirits and Flavors
- Making Condiments from Scratch!
- Dinner on the Deck
