

The Sikhs who saved Parmesan - anishkothari
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33149580

======
lazydon
Wow, I know it doesn't sounds very mature, but to see this article and
comments on HN, really make me feel happy and proud to be a Sikh.

But, alas Sikh's own state of Punjab is nowhere close to successes of the
community all over the world. It's a great tragedy.

The state of Punjab once a pioneer in green revolution and the richest in
India is now being looted by dynasty politics and corruption. The state of
things is so bad that people don't even want to visit back the place.
Sometimes, we wonder if that's the key for our current success everywhere but
in our own home.

~~~
kranner
Part of the problem is that drug addiction has reached staggering proportions
in Punjab.

~~~
wavefunction
Can you elaborate on the drug addiction you've alluded to? Alcohol? Opiates?
I'm interested in learning more about Punjab, which is why I ask.

~~~
kranner
Just saw this article: [http://www.indiaspend.com/cover-story/indias-soaring-
drug-pr...](http://www.indiaspend.com/cover-story/indias-soaring-drug-
problem-455-rise-in-seizures-26787)

As kjsingh says, it's both. Expand the list to any kind of high: prescription
painkillers, Iodex, even lizards:
[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Drunkards-...](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Drunkards-
turn-to-lizards-for-a-high/articleshow/14683945.cms)

------
suprgeek
(Obvious Generalizations etc..) Sikhs are some of the hardest working and
toughest people from the Indian Subcontinent.

They also have a fearsome reputation in the military and are considered one of
the toughest Regiments of the Indian army. There are many stories where they
have literally fought to the bitter end against overwhelming odds [1].

The great tragedy is that since 9/11 Sikhs have often been mistaken for
afgans/arabs wearing turbans & discriminated against.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saragarhi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saragarhi)

~~~
pluma
I'm generally pretty biased against all religion by default but Sikhism is one
of the few religions I can't find much to complain about. It's pretty
egalitarian, its followers are encouraged to defend the weak (and not just
weak Sikhs either) and committing to its values and laws is an option that
should only be taken after careful consideration rather than the default.

The only negative thing I can think of is the insurgency in India of the 1970s
and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, although I don't think it's fair to
classify those events purely as religiously motivated violence (or even
terrorism).

~~~
ashark
I respect that they have a tradition that considers religious practice most
valid when it occurs _in the world_ [1].

Many other religions have strong ascetic and/or monastic traditions, and they
tend to consider those practitioners to be, in some sense or other, the
holiest. Retreat from the world tends to be the advised path for the purest,
or at least most successful, pursuit of religious study and practice.

Not the Sikhs. They're like, "Pft, that sounds like religion on easy mode. No
thanks, I'm going to have a job, a spouse, and kids, and still manage to
practice my religion well, because I'm not a wimp." This _despite_ their
religion featuring all the usual the-world-distracts-you-from-salvation
warnings.

[1] See #6:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism#Prohibitions_in_Sikhis...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism#Prohibitions_in_Sikhism)

~~~
pluma
> Blind spirituality: Superstitions and rituals should not be observed or
> followed, including pilgrimages, fasting and ritual purification;
> circumcision; idols & grave worship; compulsory wearing of the veil for
> women; etc.

This is probably one of the things that surprised me the most. Other religions
put these things first, Sikhism just bans them outright. You'd think a
religion that doesn't reinforce its importance with obtrusive rituals wouldn't
survive but here it is alive and kicking ass.

------
sikhnerd
Here[1] is a nice 5-minute 2008 video on the same topic. And a 2011 NYT
article[2] also points out some of the challenges they have faced. This 2012
article [3] has some nice pictures

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frOl9mO7q6o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frOl9mO7q6o)
[2] [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/europe/08iht-
italy08...](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/europe/08iht-
italy08.html?pagewanted=all) [3] [http://www.caravanmagazine.in/photo-
essay/parmesan-goes-indi...](http://www.caravanmagazine.in/photo-
essay/parmesan-goes-indian)

~~~
vowelless
Here is a 20 minute video on it:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HtKy7_n1LA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HtKy7_n1LA)

------
micheljansen
I recently watched the documentary Chef's Table on Netflix [1] and in the
first episode, there was another interesting story about saving Parmesan
cheese.

The earthquake damaged a lot of Parmesan wheels, leaving them vulnerable to
spoilage. This would mean a huge loss of investment and possibly bankruptcy
for a lot of the parmesan producers.

A chef from Modena then created a recipe called Risotto cacio e pepe that was
both easy to make and required Parmesan. He used the to simultaneously raise
awareness about the consequences of the earthquake and promote sales of the
damaged Parmesan [2]. He ended up selling 360.000 wheels of Parmigiano,
possibly saving a lot of cheese makers from going out of business.

[1]
[http://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80007945&jbp=0&jbr=1](http://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80007945&jbp=0&jbr=1)
[2]
[http://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/en/press_area/2013_1/massi...](http://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/en/press_area/2013_1/massimo_bottura_podium_best_chefs_world.aspx)

~~~
HelloNurse
A lot of damaged cheese was simply 1) sold in smaller pieces, as is the norm
for retail distribution (1/16 or 1/32 of a whole wheel are the common sizes),
or 2) routed to industrial processing to become little cheese pieces
(shrinkwrapped as snacks) and pre-grated cheese.

------
eru
If the currently settled Sikhs are moving up in the labour market (and
integrating well into Italian society), couldn't they just open up immigration
to a new wave of immigrants to start the same journey?

Eg there are lots of Sikhs left in India who'd be happy to tend Italian cows,
and other people Sikh or not all over the world.

------
bobosha
Sikhs are the warriors of India - they have been India's guardians and the
hardest working and friendliest people. They are revered all across India and
referred to as "Sardarji" \- which is an honorific meaning "Commander" or
"Leader".

~~~
danans
Not to diminish the large contributions of many Sikhs in military service to
India - that record is indisputable - but it's a bit far fetched to call them
_The_ warriors of India.

India has had many martial communities over its history and up to this day,
and to focus only on the Sikhs in this regard is to tell a selective story of
the past and present.

In my travels in India I've seen a large number of Indian military personnel
drawn from all over the subcontinent. Indeed most of those I saw stationed on
the front lines in Kashmir when I visited there just ahead of the Kargil war
in 1999 were from southern India.

~~~
Sven7
The British while ruling India classified the Sikhs as a "Martial Race". "Non-
martial" races weren't allowed to be recruited into the British Army in India.
For more see
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_race](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_race)

The interesting consequence of this, was when the Indian Army came in to
existence, it had a highly disproportionate share of men from a handful of
communities. I know this was true till a few years ago (haven't checked
recently), but the Indian Army never released data on the state wise
distribution of its personnel as a result.

~~~
pav7en
Yup, and this led to an imbalance in the officer corps too, with sikhs being
disproportionate to their population. Though it's generally not talked about,
that imbalance in the officer corp has been corrected. Started during the
1980's.

Another interesting aspect of Indian Army regiments is that they are based on
a region or caste for the enlisted members, but the officers can be from any
part of the country. So if you're a south Indian officer then you must know
hindi and if your parent regiment is say the Gorkhas, they'll teach you
Nepali.

Also, there has been a greater emphasis on recruiting from all parts of the
country for the enlisted members. Military recruiting has certainly improved
and has become much more diverse over the years. The Army doesn't release this
data because of political considerations. Politicians are sure to demand
quotas if those numbers come out. And letting politicians meddle with the
internal systems of a really good institution like the Indian Army is a sure
way to gut it.

To clarify recruiting means recruiting of enlisted members. Selection may be
the right term for officers.

------
carrotleads
Sikhs are hardworking people, so its no surprise you can see their influence
across India.

Even during the heights of Punjab insurgency the Army Chief was a Sikh and a
majority of India's defence chiefs have been Sikhs.

The Indian cusine that is found outside India is predominantly a Punjabi
cusine. Bollywood is dominated by them as well.

A few year back, I met a Sardarji at Adelaide airport and his story mimics the
one in this article. Difference is they are in the borders of South Australia
and Victoria in Australia and into Citrus cultivation and were diversifying.

~~~
shakil
No argument against the fact that Sikhs are a hard-working people, but its a
stretch to say Indian cuisine found in most Indian restaurants in the West is
Punjabi cuisine. What gets served is generic North Indian food which is based
on the Mughlai cuisine. For instance you almost never find Sarson da Saag or
Makki di roti in any restaurant, so cannot really call it Punjabi food.

------
crudbug
Sikhs are hardworking lads.

~~~
danans
and lasses ;)

------
falloutx
I don't know why, but lot of Sikhs just do very demeaning work Abroad. Mostly
Labour. 1-2% go to College and get Degree. In Long run, its bad for Economy.

------
pmontra
I live at 150 km from there, eat that parmesan very often, and didn't know
anything about this. Interesting read and thanks to all those workers.

------
zpatel
btw, punjab was split in half between india and pakistan when the british
left.

~~~
addicted
I doubt very many of the Sikhs remained in Pakistan after partition.

~~~
kjsingh
There are many pockets of Sikh population near important historical shrines
like Nanakana Sahib and Panja Sahib
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nankana_Sahib](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nankana_Sahib)

