Food

Kathmandu as a Gastronomic Hub for Newari Cuisine

By - Admin Jul 01, 2020 5 Mins Read
Kathmandu as a Gastronomic Hub for Newari Cuisine
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� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � - Bijay Shrestha & Dali Khanal

According to the World Food Travel Association (WFTA), food tourism is "the pursuit and enjoyment of unique and memorable food and drink experiences, both far and near." A global report on Food Tourism issued by the UN World Tourism Organization states that "over a third of tourist spending is devoted to food" which shows how important the cuisine of a destination is. It also mentioned that food events are the most popular gastronomic activities, which is why thousands of enthusiasts flock to say an Oktoberfest in Germany or a La Tomatina in Spain. Tourists are now looking to marry two of the most exciting things - travel and food. Various culinary journeys are being organized throughout the world that leave the travelers with fond food memories. Today, tourists want to experience and live the culture of the city instead of being mere sightseeing visitors. Cultural consumption is the key here. People travel for many reasons. For the purpose of explaining travelling for food motivations, let's get into the four main categories in this typology: physical motivators, cultural motivators, interpersonal motivators and status and prestige motivators. Physical motivators are related to tourist's real experiences during the trip. For example, tourists experience the looking at attractive food presentation and smelling the aroma of the food. These phenomenons would provide a new experience to the tourists that cannot be encountered in a typical day-to-day life. In general, the tourists are able to experience a unique and novel type of opportunity. Similarly, tourists might also be motivated by health reasons, such as visiting countries that offers healthy diet; for example the food of Greece and Italy or "the Mediterranean Diet." This cuisine emphasizes healthy eating that might attract those who want to lose weight. At present there is a growing demand in Gastronomy Tourism and it is becoming a crucial sector of the travel and tourism industry. Nevertheless, the popularity of Gastronomy Tourism has been recognized for a few decades. More and more countries are starting to recognize the potential of culinary tourism. In Singapore, the government developed a "New Asia-Singapore Cuisine" marketing efforts in other to attract visitors to savor its cuisine which attempted to combine the flavor of east and west cuisines. In addition, Singapore started to organize its first Singapore Food Festival and the World Gourmet Summit in 1997; it is being organized bi-annually. Singapore is working hard to develop its food and wine image and is becoming a premier food destination in Asia. Gastronomy tourism has shifted gears from gourmet dining to local tasting. People are also opening up to the idea of traveling for food. France, Vietnam, Cambodia, Spain, Italy, Singapore, Mexico, California and India are some of the emerging gastro destinations for backpackers. It's not just the tourists but locals can also engage themselves in exploring food and food culture. It's great to explore the food scenario of the city that you live in. In fact, there are so many people who travel across countries and states just to try new cuisines. People these days are looking to appreciate and understand local food. Talking about Kathmandu, it's just not the breathtaking landscapes and temples but also the finger licking flavors of Newari Cuisine that will get the tourists salivating. Kathmandu can be an Epicurean's delight where every nooks and corners writes up a new menu. With fresh ingredients, local�spices and the traditional�tempering, Newari Cuisine bristles with a lot more.� Stroll through the alleys of Kathmandu Valley, eat your heart out at the local eateries.� The social importance of food in newari culture is readily apparent. For instance the most common expression for greeting someone is Jan nayedwuno la? i.e., Have you had Your rice? This greeting is used on a daily basis by almost every newar. The importance of the food to the Newars is also expressed in the Nepali proverb: Parbate bigryo mojale, Newar bigryo bhojle. Literally, this says, Parbate (Brahmin/ Chettrisetc) ruin themselves by (excessive) pleasure, whereas the Newars ruin themselves by excessive feasting.� Newari Cuisine is often categorized into three parts, first the regular meal, that is Ja[Daily Rice Meals served with Ken (Lentil Soup) and Tarkari(Vegetable Dishes)], second being the regular snack dishes, that is Baji[Beaten Rice eaten with Vegetable or La (Meat Dishes) as the Afternoon Snack] and the third one, being the most elaborate one is Bhoye[Feast including varieties of meat an vegetable dishes with beaten rice]. Newari Cuisine as a tool to Promote Gastronomy Tourism in Kathmandu
Today, travelers are more informed, more experienced, have more disposable income and more leisure time to travel, and thus tourism allows them to escape the daily routine of their usual environment and immerse themselves in a world of freedom and novelty. Thus, more and more tourists in the world are looking for concrete learning experiences, and in this endeavor the gastronomic experience, in highly diverse ways, is playing an increasingly prominent role.� Newari Cuisine, being the most ethnic and the most popular cuisine of Kathmandu Valley may play a role of the biggest tool of marketing Kathmandu as a destination for Gastronomy Tourism. Globally, food and tourism are increasingly being combined and the development of gastronomy as a tourism product has become a trend recently. The awareness of the importance of food as a heritage component in tourism has been steadily growing. As competition between tourism destinations in the Asia increases, Newari food and culture are a valuable source to attract tourists. Newari gastronomy has a significant identity, and an important role to play since food is closely related to tourist consumption and experience. The tourists� quest for authentic tastes and experiences has been a fundamental thrust, and in practice tourism destinations strive to develop their own distinctive and unique identities. This emergent trend can be examined as most of the tourist destinations have made a great effort to promote their local cuisines. In line with this, the Newari gastronomy route should be in run with the cultural activities. Newari cuisine has huge potential in Kathmandu. But it has been underestimated by the locals, tourism entrepreneurs, hoteliers and thus dominated by international cuisine. Due to this, Newari cuisine is lacking to compete with international cuisine restaurants. Lack of food presentation theme, folklore telling & moreover lack of proper promotion are some major problem.   There are few high end Newari Restaurants in Kathmandu Valley along with numerous small local outlets serving Newari Cuisine. Probably, they are either reluctant in marketing their specialty due to the high expenditure in marketing or are unaware of the importance of marketing in promoting these places as a gastronomic destination.   Lack of Human Resources in preparing Newari Cuisine is another challenge creating a hindrance in promoting Kathmandu as a Newari Gastronomy Tourism Destination. Human resources getting attracted in engaging themselves in foreign countries have affected the whole gastronomy scenario of the country. Youth are happy in cooking international cuisines abroad than cooking their local dishes in local community.   Amidst all these obstacles, there are numerous outlets serving authentic Newari Cuisine to its patrons. Some tend to include Newari dishes along with International Cuisine in their menu whilst some are just focusing on authentic Newari Cuisine. We explored few outlets of the valley just to get some hints on the prospect of making Kathmandu as a Newari Cuisine Gastronomic Hub.   Newa Lahana, Kirtipur�   One of the unique concept typical Newari restaurant Newa Lahana, located at the Thambhal, Kirtipur, Kathmandu Nepal, is only 5 KM away from Ring Road or Balkhu Chowk. This restaurant is established by whole Thambal community at 2062 BC (2006 AD). There are about 50 staffs who are continually working whole day serving about 300 people a day for the success of the business.   In a recent survey visit to this restaurant, we have found that both international tourist and national tourist of all ages visit here to have special and delicious food as well as enjoy the Newari cultural environment. �It was found that both international and national customers are enjoying the Newari food here, but some are not fully satisfied with the service standard.This shows that in the case, there is increase in the service standard; it will increase the guest flow to this restaurant.General �feedback from almost all the customer is very good.   According to the Newa Lahana restaurant team and the guests who come to visit at this restaurant; Newari cuisine is one of the most popular and versatile cuisine of the Nepal which is competing well with any other international cuisines. But sometimes, the guest complains about the service standard, which is to be addressed. As we observed, The Newa Lahana restaurant is not able to provide the personalized service to its customers due to lacking of trained staff.�   Other cuisines restaurants are the strong competitor of the Newari cuisine and we see many food promotions and proper marketing of other cuisines. Therefore, to overcome the lack of promotion, we have to enter into systematic publicity & organizing different Newari food campaigns. If possible enter into advertising to attract the international tourist.   Lack of skilled manpower is another major challenge to run a Newari cuisine restaurant. We see many hospitality training centers and hospitality management colleges producing well skilled people in cookery but very few have put Newari cuisine or ethnic cuisines of Nepal in their syllabus. Until and unless the country, people and the system do not appreciate the importance of local cuisine, it will not get an environment to flourish the challenge will be in the rise.   Because of the unique taste, appearance and the quality of the Newari cuisine it is becoming popular in the every circle (like; Teenagers, middle age and old age). There is a prospect that in the near future, for the gastronomy tourism in Kathmandu, the Newari cuisine will be the most popular and demandable cuisine, provided proper packaging & branding. So that it helps to boom up the tourism industry of the Kathmandu.� HaratiNewari Restaurant, Nayabazaar Newari cuisine has always been successful to pull foodies towards it. The use of traditional spices and important proteins constitutes the typical Newari food. Harati Newari Restaurant has always been serving typical Newari food to its guests.   Opened more than fifteen years ago by Ram Krishna Maharjan, Harati Newari Restaurant is a place for authentic Newari food. He along with his brothers has been operating the restaurant and sometimes even gets into cooking himself for special orders. Located in Nayabazaar and named after Harati Mata, the goddess Newar Community worships a lot. The restaurant hasextended from eight to ten table restaurant to anextensivedining hall under a traditional Newari style-roof and can serve more than 100 people at a time.�   When it was opened, it was in focus of Domestic Customers only, but these days, we can also see International Tourists dining in Harati. This proves that the Newari Cuisine can definitely play a role in making Kathmandu a Gastronomic Hub in coming future.   JhiguBhoenChhen, Thamel JhiguBhoenChhen is that Newari Restaurant where you get such dishes, which you cannot get in other popular Newari restaurants of town like Tisya, Sapumhicha, Nhyapu Puka, Swon Puka and a lot more. Owned and managed by Mr. Rajesh Shrestha and his family, this restaurant located in Jyatha, Thamel has been serving its patrons from more than 10 years. All the cooking are done either by the elder brother of Mr. Shrestha or his aunt. The major target market of this restaurant is International Tourists but it equally entertains Domestic Customers too. You can find 50:50 of both categories of customers here. The most loved delicacies are Chatamari, Woh, Tisya, Samay Baji, Sapu Mhicha and Yomari according to Mr. Shrestha.   The most of the customers (Domestic and International) are found to be satisfied with the standard of food along with service. The premise of the restaurant is clean and pleasant which has been additional factor to attract the tourists along with food. The average number of guests exceeds 50-60 everyday spending about Rs. 1000-1500 per person. This number and the popularity of this authentic Newari restaurant shows the much bigger prospect of Newari Cuisine in Kathmandu.   Honacha Honacha may be the most popular Newari outlet of whole Kathmandu Valley which is in existence since 1990 BS, making it a 83 years old restaurant, may be the oldest restaurant in existence in Kathmandu Valley. Mr. Krishna Lal Byanjankar, originally from Honley (now, Chyasal) moved to Mangal Bazaar and opened this tiny place to feed the farmers of that time. As he was from Honley and Cha is the term used for everyone to call in Newari Language, people started calling him Honacha thus giving this restaurant a name.�   A tiny outlet behind the very popular Krishna Mandir of Patan Durbar Square, Honacha has been catering its patrons with varieties of Wohs including Plain Woh, Khen Woh and Chunla Khen Woh. Other popular dishes of this place are Aloo Wala, Dyakala and Chhoyela along with Baji. The ladies making Wohs are always seen busy here; they work like a machine to make their guests satisfied. This small place caters more than 500 customers a day spending on an average of Rs. 300-500 per person. You can never find this place empty. So this restaurant lacks its focus on customer service. This place is mainly targeted to Domestic Customers, but you can find some International tourists creeping in to satisfy their appetite for spicy dishes.   Newari Kitchen, Naxal Newari Kitchen, Naxal is run by a couple, Mr. Buddhi Maharjan and his wife. It is in existence since last 30 years in the same place. This place is much popular for its Special Chatamari and Special Woh. These specialty dishes are a slight fusion with the addition of cheese and sausage slices and are served with Hot Garlic Sauce, which is not customary in Newari Cuisine. Nevertheless, a slight innovativeness in gastronomy to call up upon more admirers can always be appreciated. Newari Kitchen has more of regular customers than walk-ins,and most of them are domestic guests, especially the people working or residing in the nearby areas. There are some customers who visit from outskirts of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and even Bhaktapur for its specialty dishes.��   According to Mr. Maharjan, all the dishes are made fresh on guests' order rather than preparing in advance. As the couple themselves prepares the dishes, the consistency has always been maintained. The outlet is small, yet the turnover is high. In lunch time and in the evenings, one may have to struggle to get a seat. Other popular dishes available are Baji Set, Haku Chhoyela & Momocha. We found that the customers in this cozy outlet are very happy with the dishes and the friendly behavior of the couple. The restaurant fully relies on Buddhi Dai and his wife, as they are the ones to cook and serve both and are always smiling.   Gastronomy tourism is that kind of tourism which appeals to tourists of all categories, people from different sectors having different income sources of all age group like to travel to destinations with different cuisine cultures, open to new experiences, like trying new dishes of the regions they travel and want to share their experiences with others. Gastronomy tourism creates an opportunity in marketing the destinations with its possibility of performance all year long, increase in the amount of expenditure and time of stay of the tourists compared to other types of tourism activities contributes to local development, environment sensitive development exclusive to the region.�   Gastronomy tourism has an important leading power in promoting the destination even in the period of reversion when the demand for other tourism activities decreases. Day by day tourism activities are getting globalized. At this point, it is necessary to analyze the gastronomy market well in order to be successful in the development of gastronomy. Gastronomy is an important source that creates the cultural identity in post-modern societies, thus has an important place in culture tourism. Gastronomy tourism is an important factor of the culture tourism market that develops rapidly in the world and it has important contributions both to social and economic development and intercultural interactions. Gastronomy tourism has important contributions to the local economic development in the regions, where it is developed. It is known that the gastro tourists rather prefer the local products and in particular their tendency to local food and beverages are higher compared to other types of tourists. Therefore, gastronomy tourism has positive contributions to new investments in the local economic sector, development of these sectors, care of local values and sustainability.   Gastronomy tourism is one of the most important elements of tourism marketing and this new concept will contribute at a great level on the tourism marketing of Kathmandu. To achieve this aim, cooperation between local residents and public as well as private sector should be realized.
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