Myanmar: Cuisine, Culture, Customs

Book excerpt: From the quiet simplicity of Myanmar’s rural towns to the bustle of modern day Yangon, this book captures the sights, sounds and flavours of a country that has until recent years, been isolated from the rest of the world. Best described as a mix of Chinese and Indian cuisines with a dose of Thai influence, Burmese cuisine is simple in its execution, yet delivers a complexity of tastes with the use of fish sauce, prawn paste, turmeric, tamarind, lemon grass, coriander, chillies and coconut milk. Go off the beaten track and discover the heart of Myanmar through her cuisine, culture and customs. Mohana Gill was born and brought up in Myanmar. She speaks, reads and writes fluent Burmese and holds a master’s degree from the University of Rangoon and an MBA from the University of Toronto. She was on the staff of the University of Rangoon for many years until she left for Malaysia in 1965 and became a lecturer at the University of Malaya. Mohana is the author of several award-winning books, Fruitastic, Vegemania, Hayley’s Fruitastic Garden and Hayley’s Vegemania Garden, written to share her knowledge of cooking for health and wellness.Mohana is passionate about the country where she spent her younger days, and it has been her dream to share about the beauty of the people, the vastness of the land and its amazing cuisine with others. In working on this book, Mohana travelled back to the places she knew and met up with old friends, renewing bonds and rediscovering all that she has always loved.