'' S O N A R B A N G L A ''
 Bengal - Geographical outlook |
Bengal - Historical perspective |
Historical influence on food |
| Philosophy of food |
Eating and serving of Bengali
food |
Seasonal influences |
| Bengali cuisine |
Recipes |
Glossary |
PHILOSOPHY OF FOOD
Just as man is said to be made up of the three gunas or quality which are reflected in his appearance and his appetites, food too is divided into three kinds. Satvic food is light, bland, usually vegetarian and white and gold in colour. The finest rice mixed with ghee(clarified butter), milk and the milk products, honey and fruits- fresh and sun-dried - are the foods for ascetics. Rajasic food is gold and red in colour, consists of meat, fish, eggs, wines and beer and are supposed to arouse passion in kings and warriors. Tasmasic food is red and black in colour, consists of flesh of small animals, pork and beef, scaleless fish and food cooked the day before.
The Brahmins at the apex of the socio-religious order are largely vegetarian and eat satvic foods. But the Bengali Brahmin found the flavour of Bengal's sweet water fish irresistible and fell to temptation and called the fish as 'fruit of the ocean'.
Food is classified into kancha (uncooked or unripe) and paka (cooked or ripe). Anna is the sanskrit word for rice which when cooked is bhaat in Bengali and is a central fact of Bengali cultural existence.
Dairy products became increasingly a part of the trappers and gatherers diet. Paramana was among the first food and the name given to rice and milk boiled together and has been the traditional offering to god for thousand of years.
Sweetened milk with sugar cane, the strength-giving properties of paramana makes it the auspicious food on important occasions. Popularly called payeesh, it is the solid food a child is offered at the annaprasan, the rice eating ceremony.
The vivid picture of the kitchen in medieval Bengali literature collected in Mangal Kavyas. A woman's culinary activity makes her a participant in the sacrificial aspect in which cooking is closely connected to religion. Preparation of a meal is also linked to Karma (desire). A young woman must study the rules of culinary erotica and develop them into an art to win over husband's attention- a universal feminine strategy. The best role model for a Bengali woman is Draupadi as it is believed that she used to keep all her five husbands happy and none used to return from her kitchen hungry.
The rules of do's and don'ts governing personal cleanliness and when to
eat was effectively reinforced by religious sanctions and celestial occurrences. Bathing
and changing into clean clothes dried 
in the wind were perquisites for the daily puja. Women
did not enter the kitchen at all times and before doing so head bath was mandatory. Before
a solar or a lunar eclipse, the hearth is not lit. Food, cooked or uncooked is not eaten.
After an eclipse, the kitchen is washed before it resumes its normal operations. The
reasons given are that the absence of the main illuminating body - the sun and the moon-
it is believed that contamination by insects and other harmful bodies may go unnoticed.
Calcutta is the rice bowl that stretches Eastward from China to Japan. The major festivals centre around rice. The goddess Durga's annual visit is the city's biggest festival. She comes riding on a lion with weapons in her ten hands. Another popular representation of Durga is Annapurna or Annada, the giver of rice. There are two kinds of rice depending on the method of dehusking the paddy - atap or sun-dried and siddha or parboiled rice. Each kind has many varieties known by different names and used for different occasions. Among the sun-dried varieties grown mainly in the adjoining district of Burdwan, are the small-grained scented Kamini, the fragrant Gopalbhog and Gobindabhog. Gopal and Gobindabhog are affectionate appellations of the god Krishna. Most people here are familiar with the famous basamati rice which is best used in pulao.
In Vedic times, dal is mentioned and identified by the word supa, similar to the English word soup. The cook was called supakar. Dal was the main source of vegetable protein and is the second most staple diet of Bengal.
The philosophy of food also gets deep entrenched into everyday lifestyle where food is still being used as prophylactic and antiseptic. Kalaidal or biuli dal are used as a contraceptive, and dumurer dalna (fig stew) was given to diabetics. Turmeric was used as an antiseptic and honey with ghee proves to be a throat soother and a laxative.The Bengali learnt to season his foods with many more spices that became available and he readily devised their own particular order, proportions and combinations in using the aromatic imports of asafoetida, cumin and saffron.