6 ms·

The Sikhs who saved Parmesan

137 points by anishkothari 11y ago

crudbug 11y ago
Sikhs are hardworking lads.
- danans 11y ago
  and lasses ;)
suprgeek 11y ago
(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
- jeffbr13 11y ago
  > The great tragedy is that since 9/11 Sikhs have often been mistaken for afgans/arabs wearing turbans & discriminated against. The greater tragedy is discrimination against Arabs based on racism and faulty heuristics for what a 'terrorist' looks like.
  - pluma 11y ago
    One could argue that the heuristics are for what a Muslim looks like. In that sense the tragedy is that that Sikhs don't really have anything to do with Islam at all. That most Americans think of a beard and turban as a fool-proof indicator of the person being a Muslim of course shows a lack of consideration. How relevant moderates are to extremism is a separate question (and one that is largely orthogonal to the religion itself) but it's fair to say that no matter how little a moderate has to do with extremists, someone who isn't even a member of their religion in the first place is about as undeserving of hostility as it gets. I would argue the greater tragedies are that ethnicity frequently gets conflated with religion (which really serves no-one, unless your religion is incestuous) and that most people are too ignorant of other cultures than their own to tell them apart. Heck, there are still Americans who have a hard time accepting that Obama isn't Muslim just because he's not white (as if non-white Christianity hadn't ever been a thing in the US).
- meIias 11y ago
  Yeah how tragic, being mistaken for an Arab. I really hope that the denizens of HN can rise above the need to make foolhardy generalizations (good or bad) about large swathes of people. Maybe save that for your reddit account.
- pluma 11y ago
  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 11y ago
    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_Sikhism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism#Prohibitions_in_Sikhis...
    - pluma 11y ago
      > 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.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
    - 11y ago
sikhnerd 11y ago
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.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/europe/08iht-italy08... [3] http://www.caravanmagazine.in/photo-essay/parmesan-goes-indian http://www.caravanmagazine.in/photo-essay/parmesan-goes-indi...
- vowelless 11y ago
  Here is a 20 minute video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HtKy7_n1LA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HtKy7_n1LA
bobosha 11y ago
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".
- pcr0 11y ago
  As a non-Sikh Indian, that's the first time I've come across the meaning of the word "Sardarji". Not proud of myself for this, but as kids, we'd crack "Sardarji" jokes which are basically the Indian equivalent of blonde jokes. And it's still the first thing that comes up on Google :/
  - sumedh 11y ago
    > As a non-Sikh Indian, that's the first time I've come across the meaning of the word "Sardarji". Sardar in Marathi also means the same thing - "Commander" or "Leader"
- vithlani 11y ago
  Not exactly true, specially the friendly bit -- I have encountered significant racism in the community, specially in the heartland AND diaspora.
- danans 11y ago
  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 11y ago
    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.
zpatel 11y ago
btw, punjab was split in half between india and pakistan when the british left.
- addicted 11y ago
  I doubt very many of the Sikhs remained in Pakistan after partition.
  - kjsingh 11y ago
    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
eru 11y ago
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.
carrotleads 11y ago
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 11y ago
  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.
lazydon 11y ago
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 11y ago
  Part of the problem is that drug addiction has reached staggering proportions in Punjab.
  - fillskills 11y ago
    Drug addiction is not the cause but one of the symptoms of being ruled by a dynasty
    - kranner 11y ago
      Well, this particular dynasty :) In any case, it's part of a feedback loop with increasing unemployment and increasing crime.
      - fillskills 11y ago
        Yep. This dynasty is special in many ways. Taking one of the best states in India and bringing it to the knees.
        eruditely 11y ago
        My cousin tells me that the leader is corrupt and might have more money than our richest people. I am unsure if this is true.
        11y ago
falloutx 11y ago
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.
micheljansen 11y ago
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/massimo_bottura_podium_best_chefs_world.aspx http://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/en/press_area/2013_1/massi...
- HelloNurse 11y ago
  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.
pmontra 11y ago
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.

137 points by anishkothari 11y ago

crudbug 11y ago

Sikhs are hardworking lads.

danans 11y ago
and lasses ;)

suprgeek 11y ago

(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

jeffbr13 11y ago
> The great tragedy is that since 9/11 Sikhs have often been mistaken for afgans/arabs wearing turbans & discriminated against. The greater tragedy is discrimination against Arabs based on racism and faulty heuristics for what a 'terrorist' looks like.
- pluma 11y ago
  One could argue that the heuristics are for what a Muslim looks like. In that sense the tragedy is that that Sikhs don't really have anything to do with Islam at all. That most Americans think of a beard and turban as a fool-proof indicator of the person being a Muslim of course shows a lack of consideration. How relevant moderates are to extremism is a separate question (and one that is largely orthogonal to the religion itself) but it's fair to say that no matter how little a moderate has to do with extremists, someone who isn't even a member of their religion in the first place is about as undeserving of hostility as it gets. I would argue the greater tragedies are that ethnicity frequently gets conflated with religion (which really serves no-one, unless your religion is incestuous) and that most people are too ignorant of other cultures than their own to tell them apart. Heck, there are still Americans who have a hard time accepting that Obama isn't Muslim just because he's not white (as if non-white Christianity hadn't ever been a thing in the US).
meIias 11y ago
Yeah how tragic, being mistaken for an Arab. I really hope that the denizens of HN can rise above the need to make foolhardy generalizations (good or bad) about large swathes of people. Maybe save that for your reddit account.
pluma 11y ago
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 11y ago
  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_Sikhism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism#Prohibitions_in_Sikhis...
  - pluma 11y ago
    > 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.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - 11y ago

sikhnerd 11y ago

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.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/europe/08iht-italy08... [3] http://www.caravanmagazine.in/photo-essay/parmesan-goes-indian http://www.caravanmagazine.in/photo-essay/parmesan-goes-indi...

vowelless 11y ago
Here is a 20 minute video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HtKy7_n1LA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HtKy7_n1LA

bobosha 11y ago

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".

pcr0 11y ago
As a non-Sikh Indian, that's the first time I've come across the meaning of the word "Sardarji". Not proud of myself for this, but as kids, we'd crack "Sardarji" jokes which are basically the Indian equivalent of blonde jokes. And it's still the first thing that comes up on Google :/
- sumedh 11y ago
  > As a non-Sikh Indian, that's the first time I've come across the meaning of the word "Sardarji". Sardar in Marathi also means the same thing - "Commander" or "Leader"
vithlani 11y ago
Not exactly true, specially the friendly bit -- I have encountered significant racism in the community, specially in the heartland AND diaspora.
danans 11y ago
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 11y ago
  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.

zpatel 11y ago

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

addicted 11y ago
I doubt very many of the Sikhs remained in Pakistan after partition.
- kjsingh 11y ago
  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

eru 11y ago

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.

carrotleads 11y ago

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 11y ago
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.

lazydon 11y ago

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 11y ago
Part of the problem is that drug addiction has reached staggering proportions in Punjab.
- fillskills 11y ago
  Drug addiction is not the cause but one of the symptoms of being ruled by a dynasty
  - kranner 11y ago
    Well, this particular dynasty :) In any case, it's part of a feedback loop with increasing unemployment and increasing crime.
    - fillskills 11y ago
      Yep. This dynasty is special in many ways. Taking one of the best states in India and bringing it to the knees.
      - eruditely 11y ago
        My cousin tells me that the leader is corrupt and might have more money than our richest people. I am unsure if this is true.
      - 11y ago

falloutx 11y ago

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.

micheljansen 11y ago

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/massimo_bottura_podium_best_chefs_world.aspx http://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/en/press_area/2013_1/massi...

HelloNurse 11y ago
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.

pmontra 11y ago

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.