Inle Pancake Kingdom

Excerpts taken from An Introduction to Myanmar Cuisine by Ma Thanegi, a wonderful Burmese cookbook that we highly recommend:

Our food culture is based on sharing: with monks to whom many of the Buddhist Myanmar offer food on a daily basis and on special occasions called Soon Kyway and sharing lunchboxes among school friends or colleagues at work. Food and drink are offered free on special religious days in a ritual known as S’du Di Thar. Travelers stopping by a village would be welcomed to share a meal at the monastery if not at someone’s house. It gives not only joy but great merit to feed others with a generous heart, and this Buddhist concept rules the social life of the people.

A Myanmar proverb says: “You most remember your loved ones when you are eating something good.” I hope the sharing of our recipes, if not the actual dishes, will generate the same feelings of warmth and friendship, which are the inborn traits of the Myanmar people.

More about Burmese food.