#Bengali books on history of kolkata full#

Her book explores this culinary evolution across a variety of cuisines and time periods. Writes Kanjilal: вЂњAs the capital of British India (1858-1911), Calcutta became a culinary melting pot of Armenians and Parsis from Iran, Jews from Syria and Baghdad, the Chinese fleeing their revolution, and local migrants such as Gujaratis, Punjabis, Marwaris, Sindhis, Oriyas, Biharis and South Indians. In the introductory part she deals with the founding of Calcutta - from the Mughal empire to the coming of the British and latter part of the twentieth century when Calcutta became a bursting metropolis. In close to 500 pages, she weaves scholarly accounts of historians and food writers with the everyday fables one hears from a famous paanwallah or an old-timer of a club. Diving into CalcuttaвЂ™s blazing history, she shows how the food habits of early European settlers, Jewish, Armenian, Chinese, Parsi and other communities, and the cityвЂ™s next-door neighbours like Odisha, have made the culinary fabric of Calcutta immensely flush and stratified.ДЇood, Kanjilal says, вЂњhas always been an integral part of the lifestyle of the residents of CalcuttaвЂ¦ whether it isвЂ¦ the phuchka wallahвЂ¦ the jhal muri wallah, selling the spicy puffed rice preparationвЂ¦ or the ghugni wallah, servingвЂ¦ the semi-dry and spicy preparation of whole yellow peasвЂ¦вЂќ From CalcuttaвЂ™s renowned bakeries like NahoumвЂ™s to the invention of rasgullas and samosas (or shingara), Kanjilal does a 360-degree exploration. What makes the volume fascinating is her authentic research. Whether it is the oldest tea shop, Favourite Cabin, set up in 1924, to the 21st-century fine-dining restaurant вЂњthreesixtythreeвЂќ, Mohona dexterously captures the stories behind the cityвЂ™s adorable culture of вЂ bikel chaar-ter chaвЂ™ (tea at 4 p.m.). The book is a perceptive journey through the ever-changing landscape of CalcuttaвЂ™s food and cultural environment, from its decades-old cutlet, jhal muri,and puchka stalls to its iconic continental restaurants like FirpoвЂ™s and Flurys.

#Bengali books on history of kolkata full#

The heady romance of palates and flavours in the вЂRoyal CapitalвЂ™ has fostered diversity in food and culture all the while adhering to the cityвЂ™s Bengali roots.вЂќДivided into four sections and about a dozen chapters, Kanjilal brings to the platter a full account of the food culture of Kolkata and it, surely, is an intellectual nourishment. Over the centuries, this teeming, cosmopolitan metropolis has become home to people from various communities who have lent its food and culture their distinctive tastes and culinary rituals. Says the blurb: вЂњCalcutta, once the nucleus of the Raj, was at the heart of a thriving economy and unparalleled administration. From a freelance journalist to a full-time writer, newspapers have been her invariable guidance. The book is massive and gorgeous.ДЄn alumnus of Loreto College, Kanjilal spent most of her childhood in Bengaluru.

In the thriving universe of Indian food books, this clearly stands out.ДЄ Taste of TimeвЂ“A Food History of Calcutta by Mohona Kanjilal goes the whole hog in digging out the culinary history of Kolkata with every minute detail.

Indeed, there couldnвЂ™t have been a better book than this on the food history of the City of Joy. To say that this is a rattling book on the food culture of Kolkata will be an understatement. Title: A Taste of Time: A Food History of Calcutta