PepperTrail.com
Title
Pepper Trail - The trail of history, tradition and cuisine of Kerala.
Description
Welcome to Peppertrail.com. Thanks for coming by. Besides providing a venue to introduce myself and to some of my work, I hope this is an interesting site to visit.
Please come with me through this Peppertrail to my corner of the pepper country, the old kingdom of Kochi in central Kerala. Black pepper, the most widely used spice in the world, is native to my home state of Kerala, located at the southwestern tip of India. Centuries ago black pepper attracted many foreign traders to our shores. This long history of foreign trade had considerable impact on our agriculture, cuisine and to a certain extent even on our language.
Both the Nayars (hereditary warriors) and the Royalty of Kerala follow the ancient matrilineal system (where one’s lineage is traced through the female line). Although for all practical purposes a true matrilineal society is all but extinct today, Nayars and the Royal families of Kerala still continue to observe the ceremonial aspects of this ancient social system. While the rest of India considers a girl child a burden, people of Kerala following this unique social structure still rejoice when a girl is born.
