Finding The Wazas

For the last 35 years,Ghulam Hassan Aram has been preparing the wazwan. He learned the art from his father,when he was just 15. He has spent much of his life in Wazapora,where the families of Arams,the Khars and the the Bhats traditionally produce master chefs. He says,It is rumoured that emperor Timur once visited Kashmir along with his cooks and they transferred their culinary skills to the people here. We dont know how long we have been in this profession. But we know it has been generations8230;

Every household contributes one or more chefs to the morning assembly. From here,the chefs disperse to Srinagar,Sopore or Baramulla to cook their elaborate meals. Its a bit like a mandi, says 47-year-old Fayaz Ahmad Khar,a chef for over 30 years,Every chef here is negotiating and fighting with the master chef for better rates. While payments depend on the status of the host,each chef earns close to Rs 2,000 for the two days of festivities.

The preparation of the the wazwan starts the day before the wedding reception. Big copper utensils are spread on large logs of burning wood kept at the venue. With up to 400 kgs of mutton cooked at a standard Kashmiri wedding,the air hangs heavy with the smell of smoky wood and cooking meat.

As the women sing their traditional wedding songs on maenzraat mehendi raat,the wazas prepare their delicacies in the open. Using a wooden mallet on a round stone,the rista and gushtaba are prepared. For more than four hours,the boneless mutton is minced fine on a stone slab,to be inspected by the master chef. And if he isnt satisfied with the minced meat which he mostly isnt another round of mincing starts.

When the mutton is soft as silk,eggs and spices are added and finally the yoghurt gravy is made.

For the wedding day,the cuisine is kept in copper vessels on a slow heat. In the evening,as the guests arrive,the different delicacies are served with hot rice.

While Kashmir has achieved culinary greatness with its wazwan,and Wazapora has produced generations of master chefs,all that is slowly changing. New occupations have edged out old ones. Arams son Mohsin Hassan,a post-graduate in computer applications,teaches at a private college. Arams daughter works as an adjunct professor of English at the Sopore Degree College. Their neighbour Umer Farooq,also the son of a chef,is studying commerce. Hoping to become a marketing executive,he says,Cooking as a profession has no respect here, adding,I have heard humiliating stories from my father. He has told me how difficult it is to find a place to sleep at a wedding,about sleeping out in the open at night,how the dirty bedding is reserved for chefs. I dont want to be humiliated this way.

The tradition of chefs has survived wars and insurgencies but it must withstand its biggest threat that of the changing ambitions of the youth. When militancy erupted in the Valley,in the 90s,militants issued orders than no wazwan should be cooked at weddings. Security forces also prevented the night movement of the chefs. In 1990,we were preparing a wazwan at a wedding, says Aram,Suddenly,militants arrived and cordoned off the area. They took the entire wazwan and distributed it to the poor.

While the chefs have continued their profession,despite these threats and disturbances,Wazapora is slowly starting to lose its identity as the village of cooks. Even as the demand for chefs keeps increasing,as they are called for functions other than weddings,the younger generation doesnt want to step into their fathers shoes.

Some Kashmiri chefs are also making a fortune by producing and supplying canned wazwan.

There is a huge demand for canned wazwaan, says Farooq Ahmad,who has set up such a unit called Saffron in Srinagar. Over the last few years,three major canned wazwan producers have come up in the valley that supply delicacies to the US and Gulf countries.

This demand,however,doesnt lure the new generation. We dont like to be treated like our fathers, says Umer,at the beginning of a function,a chef is the most welcome person. But once the lunch or dinner is served,he is the most unwanted person. Our fathers tolerated this because they probably had no option. But we do.