Context

• Hyderabad has now been officially designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. Hyderabad is among the 66 cities named by the U in the list of new Creative Cities which aims at pushing the Sustainable Development Goals through innovative thinking and action.

Pre-Islamic Kakatiya cuisines:

• Pre-Islamic Kakatiya cuisines (12th century) have interacted in an incredible fashion with the arrival of Turks in 15th century, followed by Mughal influences in the 17th century, are the words in the dossier submitted by the Hyderabad delegation to Unesco.
• The industry employs 12% of the city’s population either directly or indirectly, according to the study. About 700 tonnes of chicken (2,000 tonnes during festivals) and 291 tonnes of meat is consumed per day in the city, as per the dossier. 

• Food is an integral part of the culture in Hyderabad. Till 1940, there were no restaurants. The food culture has been preserved in homes and royal kitchens. But now, there are one lakh food carts and bandis.

Source: TH