Contemporary Culinary Trends in Hunza

Chef Rashid is a creative cook who owns a cozy family-run restaurant in the area. Rashid and his brothers set up their business in 2020, with a concept and execution built around creating distinctive fusions between Hunzai produce and Western cooking techniques. There wasn’t much experimentation happening with yak meat at the time hence, it only made sense for Chef Rashid to name his restaurant “Yak Grill”. 

Yak Grill is known for their innovative mixing of new ingredients with the old and creating a mindful balance between organic and packaged. Their restaurant is meat centric and they specialise in yak meat. 

Indigenous to this area, yak is a mountain cow mostly inhabiting cold Himalayan highlands and the Karakoram ranges. It is a strong and sturdy animal with a bulky frame and a thick hairy coat that allows it to survive the harsher seasons.

Yak has become symbolic for tourists who only get to eat it while visiting these localities but also residents who proudly own it. Rashid and his family own several yaks, who roam freely up in the mountains, before being brought down to Passu to be processed as food. 

The meat from a yak is said to taste similar to beef but more flavorful since it grazes on an entirely organic feed. Chef Rashid utilises the tenderloin cut of meat the most in his steaks and other grilled dishes as this is the most flavorful part of the animal.

He likes to retain the original taste of the meat by using only salt and pepper for marinating. 

To maintain the taste, they use yak bone stock and fat mixed with cream to make their sauces.

Yak meat is simple which means it offers itself up for reinvention over time - from being cooked traditionally as stew to being minced and grilled  to be served as a burger for modern tastes, it is tasty in all forms.

Most recently, Yak Grill has expanded and seating has been added in the open grounds surrounding the café, with breathtaking views of the Passu Cones. In the summer months, Yak Grill is full of tourists patiently waiting in line. Yak Grill on the Karakoram Highway is a place full of emotional energy. 

Far south from Passu, another type of food and social experimentation happens at Gingerfort Café, in Karimabad, Hunza.

Gingerfort Café is owned by brothers, Ayaz and Waqar. Waqar stays behind the scenes and works the kitchen, while Ayaz runs the front of the house.

A foreign traveller suggested he name the café Gingerfort, inspired by his red hair and the traditional forts of Hunza.

Ayaz and Waqar’s cousin Wajahat designed the café. His work mostly focuses on the contemporary use of traditional materials. The look and feel of the space is what immediately sets it apart from other businesses in Hunza.

While introducing café culture in the neighbourhood, the owners aim to preserve the essence of traditional Hunzai dishes by mixing them in with global flavours. Their all-time best seller is their Italian Chapshoro, which replaces the traditional yak filling of a chapshoro with chicken, mozzarella, and olives.

The gastronomy of the Hunza valley speaks for its development, growing diversity and talented youth that is beautifully preserving the authenticity of the past with new explorations.