Bengali Cuisine – Culinary Culture
Shinjini Saha, INN/Gwalior, @InfodeaofficialÂ
Jokingly, it is often said that others eat to live; but Bengalis live to eat. All Bengali rituals and festivities end up with one thing, surprising number of intricately prepared dishes.
West Bengal was always heavily influenced by the Mughals and the Europeans since 18th and early 19th century. This was the time when Bengali culture emerged in many of its present aspects. They have introduced Mughlai food in the town. Along with this rooted indigenous elements came into existence.
Most of the members in the Bengali society, who would play a decisive role, started taking shape. Most of the members of this class were Hindus, out of which mostly were of high caste, literate, employed in the offices of Mughal officials and Zamindars cultivated the cosmopolitan Mughal culture. All these developments influenced the shaping of the culinary culture in pre-modern Bengal.
Contemporary literature like, Mangal Kavyas and the Vaishnaiva texts played an important role in consolidating Hindu identity. According to Narayan Deb’s Manasamangal tells us that Bengalis freely consume meat and wine which was made from milk, coconut water, palmyra juice, sugarcane molasses and rice. At the wedding of Behula 12 types of fish and 5 varieties of meat were cooked. Even kings entertained monks with meat says, Ghanaram Chakravarti’s Dharmamangal.
In water-body dominated East Bengal, fish eating was more prevalent. People there enjoyed diverse fish-like kharsun, prawn, rui, chital, bain, ilish, pabda and shol. They were cooked with rich-spices like green and red chillies paste and cumin. From there fish curry (Machher Jhol) came into existence. A large number of sweets, both fried and made of cottage cheese entered the cuisine. So now, Bengali cuisine is incomplete without sweets.
Some of the Mughlai style cooked foods like, kalia, korma, kebab, kofta, dum pulao, etc became a part of Bengali culture since 18th century. Dum Biriyani, its captivating aroma and the finely flavoured rice with potato cooked in rich spices is served hot with juicy mutton or chicken inspired by Awadhi style is always a heart winner. Phuchka, tiny water-bombs with spicy masala and meethi chutney are one of the best things to have in the streets of Kolkata.
A famous snack in the city that continues to successfully retain the essence of Bengali cuisine, Telebhaja are best enjoyed in monsoons with a cup of tea. From Phuluri to Beguni to Peyaji to Alur chop, these crunchy snacks have something for everyone’s taste buds. Jhalmuri is the most perfect snack that you can that you can relish while exploring the street of West Bengal. Roshogollas, Chum-Chum, Mishti Doi and Sandesh are popular across the states or being the best dessert in the city.
The uniqueness of Bengali cuisine comes from the way it is prepared. The gravies or curries are usually cooked with spices and vegetables that are different to the ones used in North India. Most of the cuisines are innovations, and are a fusional art.