Mesu bamboo tube
A green hollow bamboo stem holds tightly packed Mesu shoots, with leaves covering the open end during fermentation. The source documents the arrangement, but not a standard size or capacity.
Mesu
Mesu bamboo shoot pickle
Tender bamboo shoots fermented without salt in a hollow bamboo tube for about one to two weeks in Sikkim and Darjeeling, eaten as a sour pickle or in curry.
What it is
Mesu is fermented bamboo shoot from the Sikkim and Darjeeling hills, associated with the Limboo people. The Sikkim Tribal Research Institute lists it among Limboo pickle foods. The 1996 study describes non-salted mesu made from tender shoots of Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, Bambusa tulda and Dendrocalamus sikkimensis, and records its use as a pickle and in curry.
The traditional vessel is a hollow bamboo tube, which has its own equipment page. The sources reviewed give no origin place or date.
Methods and timings
The 1996 traditional account reports 7 to 15 days of fermentation in hollow bamboo. The same paper's separate laboratory study used D. hamiltonii in glass jars at 30 C for ten days. A 2009 narrative gives 7 to 15 days, while its Darjeeling figure gives 7 to 12. These are distinct records, not interchangeable schedules, and they must not be merged into one household method.
Serving changes the formulation
For a finished pickle, the 1996 account describes adding salt, mustard oil and chilli; it also describes a curry with cooked meat. Adding salt at that stage does not make the earlier fermentation a salted one.
Reported flavour, acidity and keeping times are not validated release or storage criteria. Community and botanical review is still needed, and no bamboo-shoot detoxification, drying endpoint or storage life is established.
Sources for this section
History
The sources describe a traditional Limboo food without a date or first written record.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Tender bamboo shootsThe 1996 study names Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, Bambusa tulda and Dendrocalamus sikkimensis.
Amount not stated
No household quantity is given.Salt (optional)Added only to the finished pickle, not to the fermentation.
Amount not stated
to taste; quantity not givenMustard oil (optional)Added to the finished pickle.
quantity not given
Chilli (optional)Added to the finished pickle.
quantity not given
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Unvalidated household method
The traditional and laboratory methods lack transferable household hazard controls and must not be combined.
Hazard sourceUse a separately validated method for time, temperature, endpoint, detoxification and storage; reported flavour, acidity and keeping times are not release criteria, and smell or taste does not establish safety.
Control sourceNo household safe time, temperature, endpoint, detoxification or storage guidance is established.
- Pack tender bamboo shoots into a hollow bamboo tube. No salt is added.
- Leave the shoots to ferment. The 1996 traditional account reports 7 to 15 days; a 2009 narrative also gives 7 to 15 days, and its Darjeeling figure gives 7 to 12.
- Eat the soured shoots as a pickle, adding salt, mustard oil and chilli, or cook them in a curry with meat.
Conditions
Fermentation7–15 days
Places
Sikkim and Darjeeling
Traditional preparation · Region evidenceThe Sikkim Tribal Research Institute lists Mesu among Limboo pickle foods; the sources give no origin place or date and do not specify producers' gender.
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Equipment
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Sources
International Journal of Food Microbiology 29(1):49-58; author-uploaded full textMethod · Science
Microbiology of mesu, a traditional fermented bamboo shoot productNon-salted mesu in Darjeeling and Sikkim; named bamboo species
Traditional account: 7 to 15 days in hollow bamboo
Laboratory study: D. hamiltonii in glass jars at 30 C for ten days
Pickle with salt, mustard oil and chilli; curry with cooked meat
Cited in: What it is; Methods and timings; Serving changes the formulation
Tribal Research Institute & Training Centre, Social Welfare Department, Government of SikkimGeography
Limboo Tribe: Indigenous Fermented FoodsMesu listed among Limboo pickle foods
Cited in: What it is
Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 8(1):89-95; author-uploaded full textMethod
Traditional knowledge of biopreservation of perishable vegetable and bamboo shoots in Northeast India as food resourcesNarrative gives 7 to 15 days; Darjeeling figure gives 7 to 12 days
Cited in: Methods and timings