Book Review: The Calcutta Kitchen Reviewed By Dr Susmita Dutta
We Bengalis may not be No 1 in
many fields, but as is universally known, there are 3 things we delight
ourselves in- food, education, reading. What can be better when it comes to
reading about food?
When you talk about food and creativity,
I can think of 2 kinds of creations: one where you cook food and create a
culinary delight and the other which I am expert at is to read of and about
food and in my mind conjure, concoct, experiment and almost taste the visual
delight. Thus, in order to be interesting, a cook book must cater to both these
types of clientele. Further in today’s world of culinary explosions, both on TV
as well as restaurants inclusive of all kinds of world cuisine, the reader of
cook books needs cosmopolitan recipes, rather than sticking to regional
delicacies only(not that I am against them).
Taylors University teaches Hospitality
and its library has a wide range of food related books, right from choosing
wines to world cuisine. However, I was quite surprised to find a book on Kolkata
and its cuisine peeking through amongst Italian, French, Moroccan and other
food lover’s favorite’s. When I flicked through the pages, I was interested to
find not only typical bangla ranna, but the diversity and
unprovincial nature of the dishes which truly describes Kolkata. The book I
would like to talk about is The Calcutta Kitchen ( rannabanna, Kolkatar khabar)
as it left a deep impact on my culinary senses both by reviving old memories as
well as by instructing me.
The food scene in Kolkata is not only
about cholar dal, kosha mangsho and ghugni which truly represent Bengali
cuisine but is also influenced by foods and flavours from around India and the
world, not to forget our own unique ‘Kolkata Chinese’. The Nawabs, the British,
Portuguese and the Baghdadi Jews left their food prints all over the city in
either forms of the original recipes or their Indianised versions. There are several
sections in this book which relates to different categories of food; for example
several Anglo-Indian dishes described are so steeped in the region’s history
that I am sure they are still served in many old clubs and restaurants. The
original cooks of these clubs were supposedly Mogs from the Chittagong Hill
tracts who cooked English food no doubt, but added the zing and the zest by
mixing in spices or other techniques. I was particularly impressed by a few
photographs which reflect the true spirit of these clubs- their menu cards and
recipes and the bearers in their uniforms. A recipe from the Raj called egg
curry with gram dal is a unique concept and I had never heard of
something like this and I always thought that fish moilee was an
original Kerela recipe and was not aware of the Portuguese influence.
Though accustomed to Bengali food and
its various regional nuances, the murgi malai curry seems to be a new
and nice variation of our typical chingri macher malai curry. One
useful trick that this book taught me was that banana leaves (used for macach
paturi) become very pliant and are easy to fold when you microwave
them. Again there is a lovely picture of the early morning fish catching scene.
Renowned for the abundance of fish, from freshwater catches including varieties
of carp from the region’s fertile rivers, lakes and ponds of the Ganges Delta,
to prawn now artificially cultivated, the Bengali comfort food remains mach
and bhat. Though most of the
fish recipes are well known, I had a brief spell of nostalgia when I was
reminded of my mother’s recipe of frying the heads of large prawns with its
yellow gooey stuff inside in pungent mustard oil. I have never tasted it again
in the last 40 years.
The vegetarian recipes though
unexceptional also taught me to add a spoon full of chick pea flour to the
yoghurt when making doi begun ( yoghurt and aubergine) to give a nice creamy
body to the gravy.
Though Nahoums seems to be the only
Jewish surviving bakery, there are Jewish recipes like the aloo makalah, a variant
of our own alu bhaja, which can be a nice appetizer replacing the frozen
potato sticks and chicken nuggets which seem to be the easy (but very boring) way
out for most family home snacking.
Does Badamtala ring a bell? Well it is
good old Park Street which is the street of restaurants and eateries galore
right from regular roll shops for the office goers to the neon signed big wigs
and hot house of Continental food delights. Again there are recipes and
recipes, a few of them you would like to try and others too confusing and
cumbersome yet appear to be worth a try. Though I had heard of dimer
devil, devilled crab appears to be a recipe I have never tried, would
never attempt to make, but would definitely eat if somebody told me where in
Park Street it is sold. The béchamel sauce in the recipe seems to have been
bedeviled by a truant cook who possibly again did not like the bland French
sauce and added chilli and garlic. Though a good mix of continental cuisine
catering to Calcuttans, I did miss the chelo kabab of Peter Cat in the Park Street
menus.
A Kolkata cookbook is incomplete without
its typical street food and though there are innumerable delights, a few of
them are not to be found anywhere else. Take for example our own shingara
or mochar
chop with their sweet and spicy flavours inclusive of peanuts and
coconut pieces. Again there is the ubiquitous roll popularized by Nizam’s, but
sold in every nook and cranny of Kolkata.
And then to end it all in a sweet note,
there are millions of choices for sweets if you are in Kolkata. But what about
the ones in far off regions of the world who salivate at the thought of misti
doi and Sandesh? I found some online sweet stores, and there are people
who praise the misti doi delivered to their doorsteps in Mumbai. I am however
skeptical about these online stores for Bengali sweets. As a typical arrogant
Bengali, I would either have them fresh from the shop or even attempt to make
some. The other day I turned some milk into kachagolla at a moment’s
notice, and I think if there is will there is a way. I loved the pantua
and malpoa
recipes and would like to give them a try sometime.
Written by Simon Parkes and Udit Sarkhel
the book is a readers delight as it is not only about recipes, it is also an
introduction to the culture of Kolkata. All sections as well as the recipes
have interesting preambles, both historical and otherwise which breaks the
monotony of only reading recipes. The photographs by Jason Lowe speak about everything
that is Calcutta and is one of the highlights of the book.
What the book lacks I feel is the
Mughlai cuisine, derived from Persian-influenced food served in the imperial
kitchens of the Mughal Empire which was traditionally centered in the north
Indian cities of Delhi and Hyderabad but also has its unique presence in
Kolkata. Though there is a recipe of phirni in the book, I missed the
biryani and chicken rezala of Kolkata. Though satiated, but my culinary
experience of Kolkata remained incomplete.
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