'Invention of Tradition' in Indian Food

[skchai]

Perhaps by now some of you have seen this year's finalists in the Outlook-Picador Non-Fiction Contest. Interestingly enough, most of the finalists have essays about food, though there's no clear explanation why this is so. The one whose title intrigued me the most is called'Invention of Tradition' in Indian Food, by Venu Madhav Govindu. Invention of Tradition (the phrase itself coined by Hobsbawm and Ranger) in general is a topic that interests me!

The essay is a breezy and pleasant run-through of many foodstuffs that have been imported and adapted into Indian cuisine. Initially, he talks about the way in which certain foods, such as samosas and tea, have been adopted from neighbors West and East, but have been transformed by the Indian sensibility into something completely different. On the other hand, he points to coffee as something that has been adopted wholesale, without much change, yet has become fulcrum of Tamil identity.

At this point, his essays seems to move in what seems like a myriad of direction. He mourns the declining quality of mangoes and the replacement of the begun bhaja in the Bengali banquet with the indifferent 'bhejitebil chop'. After a brief aside about Raj cookery and street food, he criticizes that Punjabi and Udipi-dominated restaurant cuisine, calling for more diversity.

By the end, I wasn't sure what his main point was. Perhaps there wasn't meant to be one. However, I was hoping for something more about the economic, political, and cultural reasons why certain foods were adopted wholesale, others were rejected, and yet others were transformed and assimilated in different regions of India. I would also have appreciated more discussion of the process by which certain foods became "traditionalized" - was this purely unconscious, as seems to be tacitly implied, or were there ideological considerations at least partly responsible?

Would like to hear the thoughts of everyone here on this and the other essays. . .

[anil]

Fascinating and illuminating - I knew about "samosa" / Sumusa etc. originating from Central Asia/Persia. Some would say that it probably came from Beduins in Northern Africa to Persia ... oh well !!!

[Episure]

I also refer to K.T. Achaya from time to time, but am uncomfortably aware that all researchers and scholars are prone to the subjectivity of inference and interpretation.

I disagree :"Brought into this country by Englishmen, coffee - a drink eminently suited for the cold European climes ""

It is widely agreed that coffee originated in Ethiopia, therefore I quote from www.gourmetindia.com -

'Coffee remained in the Middle Eastern region for many years after its discovery. The Arabs knew a good thing when they saw it, and were reluctant to share it with the rest of the world. When they did sell coffee, it was in the form of boiled beans that were suitable for consumption, but not for cultivation. '

'It was only in the 17th century that coffee found its way to Europe in the hands of some Dutch traders, who managed to smuggle it out of the Middle East around the year 1616. Coffee made its way to India much the same way a few decades later in the hands of Saint Baba Budan, an Arab mystic who brought back seven beans from his pilgrimage to Mecca. The Chandragiri Hills in Karnataka, where he planted them, proved to have the ideal climate for coffee cultivation.'

Have to rush , more on this later.

[gingerly]

while we're waiting-

the process by which certain foods became "traditionalized" - was this purely unconscious, as seems to be tacitly implied, or were there ideological considerations at least partly responsible?

Over a cup of coffee_________________________

K RAMAMURTHY

It was during grandfather's time that coffee entered our home. Grandfather, on his return from one of his trips to Madras brought with him some raw coffee seeds and a coffee grinder. He handed them over to grandma and briefed her about the nitty-gritty of roasting the seeds, grinding them, extracting the decoction, preparing the brew etc. He desired that she serve him this drink every morning and added that she was welcome to have a cup of this for herself.

But, he had the shock of his life when grandma warned him that she wouldn't touch the stuff even with a barge pole. Drinking coffee was against our achaaras as it was from 'Seemai'. So saying, she returned the packet and the grinder to him.

Grandpa refused to take it lying down. Next afternoon, when grandma was having her siesta, he sneaked into the kitchen and collected a karhai and a brass container. Then, he went to the room in the backyard where hot water was usually prepared. Here, he got the oven going and roasted the beans in the karhai. He stored them in the brass container.

Next morning, after grandma had left for river Cauvery for her bath, grandpa collected a vessel, couple of tumblers and some sugar. Fixing the grinder to a bench, he ground a fistful of the roasted beans. The oven was then lit and a little water was boiled. He then put coffee powder into it. Meanwhile the milk-man called in and delivered the daily quota of milk. Grandpa took a tumbler of milk from this and boiled it. Through a piece of white cloth, he then decanted the decoction, which was added to the boiled milk. A couple of spoons of sugar added to this mixture, coffee was ready.

When grandma returned she saw him stretched on his easy chair in a state of reverie, with the coffee tumbler in one hand, soot on his face, bare chest, etc. She didn't say anything and when our servant woman Dhanam came for work, instructed her to clean the vessels thrice and then store them in the backyard itself.

A week passed. Both grandpa and grandma stuck to their guns. It was left to Dhanam to play the role of the honest broker and bring about the rapprochement. She started poking fun at grandma's obstinate stance on the coffee issue. Unable to bear her taunts and digs, grandma condescended to prepare the brew for the old man. She would only prepare the decoction and boil the milk. It was for him to mix them. Grandpa was quite happy. The first round had been won, he gloated. Soon, things began to happen! Like some of our own resolutions breaking up, grandma too slipped and gave in to temptation!

--------------------------------------

Courtesy: Deccan Herald

ideology taking a back seat here!

[Episure]

I disagree again:

Bengali sweets developed around chhana (cottage-cheese) that was introduced to the region - depending on which story you believe - by the Portugese or certain Scotsmen in colonial Calcutta.

I dont know what bibliography he is referring to but it doesnt require a foreign 'collaboration' to know what to do with simple split milk. I am surprised that this statement escaped the editors.

[gingerly]

i believe he is (rather sloppily )referring to achayas' conjecture that the portugese technique of making cottage cheese by curdling milk with acidic materials, yielding a sturdier,less perishable curd than the existing(?) whey curdled or reduced milk products,led to further innovation on the part of bengali sweetmakers.

[Episure]

i believe he is (rather sloppily )referring to achayas' conjecture that the portugese technique of making cottage cheese by curdling milk with acidic materials, yielding a sturdier,less perishable curd than the existing(?) whey curdled or reduced milk products,led to further innovation on the part of bengali sweetmakers.

It still doesn't make sense. I havent been able to find this reference anywhere in Achaya's work. I doubt if Achaya would write such because:

Whey curdling is the ancient method and is still preferred by Bengali sweet makers.

In any case curdling milk by acidic materials such as lime and other acidic fruits is an idea as old as the hills.

Correct me if I am wrong.

[gingerly]

Whey curdling is the ancient method and is still preferred by Bengali sweet makers.

In any case curdling milk by acidic materials such as lime and other acidic fruits is an idea as old as the hills

agree on both counts!bear with me-i battled my scanner and lost so-

one reference can be found in 'a historical dictionary of indian food' under'chhana'

acidification of milk,either deliberately or through spoilage,yeilds chhana as a precipitate.however,an aryan taboo on the deliberate'breaking of milk' meant that it was not a favoured food item.when the portugese who had settled in calcutta in the early 19th century needed cottage cheese,which is similarly made,bengali sweetmeat makers found themselves with a new raw material ,chhana,on which they could lavish their creative energies,to produce a profusion of sweets.mild precipitation of milk using whey from a previous run yielded a soft but perishable chhana,while the use of lime juice yielded a gritty one that set to a hard grainy,long lasting chhana.

again under'bengali sweets'.

a new thrust to sweetmaking in bengal came about when the potrugese gathered there;by ad 1650 they numbered 20,000,being settled mostly near hughli.they were skilled in the art of preparing sweet fruit preserves,and were fond of cottage cheese,which bengali sweetmakers began to first furnish and then utilise in imaginative ways.  etc

it goes on to

say'in 1868,22 year old nobin chandra das created from chhana the spongy rasogolla cooked in sugar syrup.some fifty years later his son krishna chandra das created the rasmalai,flattened chhana patties floating in thickened sweet milk

. and on

interestingly under 'cheese' we read'

even early vedic literature contains a reference to dadhanwat,which simply means an abundance of curds.this is stated to be of two types-with and without pores-which may simply denote undrained and drained curd(paneer)rather than cheese,as has been suggested.

etc.

there is more detail in 'indian food ,a historical companion' including the progression of various taboos concerning the processing and consumption of cows' milk.

the reason i say it's a sloppy reference is that it doesn't stess enough the fortuitous mix of time ,place and opportunity that led to the creation of the'newer 'sweets like the rosogolla&chamm chamm.

similarly with the reference to coffee.no effort is made to qualify its' introduction by the british as being in the nature of a plantation crop.if the author was referring to achaya ,he would certainly have caught the link to baba budan and others.

[mongo_jones]

somehow i don't think there was a lot of fact-checking involved in either the writing or judging process.

[mongo_jones]

He mourns the declining quality of mangoes and the replacement of the begun bhaja in the Bengali banquet with the indifferent 'bhejitebil chop'.

since i am far removed now from the orbit of bengali wedding banquets--though the author will be pleased to hear that at my wife's recent bou-bhaat in calcutta delectable begun-bhajas were in full evidence--i want to weigh in on this just a slight bit:

i think to view the advent of the vegetable chop and the alleged decline of the begun-bhaja (i find this idea dubious but see caveat above) only in a mournful mode or a by-product of a move toward convenience is to miss that this change can be variously coded. it wouldn't surprise me if the phenomenon of the "pan-indian" menu at the catered banquet is associated more with signifying a mark of modernization in a public forum (while at home the begun-bhaja and its ilk rein supreme). it would also be to miss that the vegetable chop is as traditionally a bengali food as the begun-bhaja (if not of equally old or high lineage), and not "un-indian" as govindu implies.

[anil]

..... my wife's recent bou-bhaat in calcutta delectable begun-bhajas were in full evidence....

How do Bhodroloks incorporate 'bhairer-mai' in this ritual ?

[mongo_jones]

..... my wife's recent bou-bhaat in calcutta delectable begun-bhajas were in full evidence....

How do Bhodroloks incorporate 'bhairer-mai' in this ritual ?

not that my family is terribly bhodro but it was a bou-bhaat like any other. down to the bou being clad in a bengali silk sari, serving all the family elders their food, and then eating her own food with her hands. as i recall she ate 3 begun bhajas.

[Rushina]

Okie I have a question

Is Achaya the only one that has researched/documented Indian food and its evolution. Has anyone read "The story of our food" Its a little book written by Achaya. Even that I feel loses out on the high adventure that could be experianced in researching and writting about this subject.

Rushina

[Episure]

Whey curdling is the ancient method and is still preferred by Bengali sweet makers.

In any case curdling milk by acidic materials such as lime and other acidic fruits is an idea as old as the hills

agree on both counts!bear with me-i battled my scanner and lost so-

one reference can be found in 'a historical dictionary of indian food' under'chhana'

acidification of milk,either deliberately or through spoilage,yeilds chhana as a precipitate.however,an aryan taboo on the deliberate'breaking of milk' meant that it was not a favoured food item.when the portugese who had settled in calcutta in the early 19th century needed cottage cheese,which is similarly made,bengali sweetmeat makers found themselves with a new raw material ,chhana,on which they could lavish their creative energies,to produce a profusion of sweets.mild precipitation of milk using whey from a previous run yielded a soft but perishable chhana,while the use of lime juice yielded a gritty one that set to a hard grainy,long lasting chhana.

again under'bengali sweets'.

a new thrust to sweetmaking in bengal came about when the potrugese gathered there;by ad 1650 they numbered 20,000,being settled mostly near hughli.they were skilled in the art of preparing sweet fruit preserves,and were fond of cottage cheese,which bengali sweetmakers began to first furnish and then utilise in imaginative ways.  etc

it goes on to

say'in 1868,22 year old nobin chandra das created from chhana the spongy rasogolla cooked in sugar syrup.some fifty years later his son krishna chandra das created the rasmalai,flattened chhana patties floating in thickened sweet milk

. and on

interestingly under 'cheese' we read'

even early vedic literature contains a reference to dadhanwat,which simply means an abundance of curds.this is stated to be of two types-with and without pores-which may simply denote undrained and drained curd(paneer)rather than cheese,as has been suggested.

etc.

there is more detail in 'indian food ,a historical companion' including the progression of various taboos concerning the processing and consumption of cows' milk.

the reason i say it's a sloppy reference is that it doesn't stess enough the fortuitous mix of time ,place and opportunity that led to the creation of the'newer 'sweets like the rosogolla&chamm chamm.

similarly with the reference to coffee.no effort is made to qualify its' introduction by the british as being in the nature of a plantation crop.if the author was referring to achaya ,he would certainly have caught the link to baba budan and others.

Gingerly,

I can imagine the unsuccessful battle you must have gone through with your scanner and OCR and I appreciate your enthusiasm in responding to this topic.

You do know your Achaya more than me and you are right we are getting semantical here.

I guess what Achaya means is that it took the portuguese to kick start the use of acidulants into more usage else it is impossible that an Aryan diktat was in force till then.

How some sloppiness neatens us all.

I shall still confer with my friend B. N Das who is back in Bangalore next week.

Edited March 12, 2004 by Episure (log)

[gingerly]

I can imagine the unsuccessful battle you must have gone through with your scanner and OCR

you have no idea !

I shall still confer with my friend B. N Das who is back in Bangalore next week.

a request-

a few threads upstream in (the rosogolla thread i think)i came across this

The cane extract was boiled in large earthen pots and made into gur (jaggery), the crushed bagasse being used as fuel. It was then converted into sugar. It is perhaps one of the earliest recorded instances of the production of sugar. The gur was then covered with pata, a type of moss. The bacteria present in the moss fed on the reddish brown impurities in the molasses / jaggery, leaving behind granules of crystal sugar. The sugar produced, despite the rudimentary methods of refining, was almost as pure as, and much tastier than, the mill-made sugar. Today, it is a lost art.

would appreciate it if you could ask your friend what he knows about this moss and any alternative uses for it.

i will be travelling for the next few weeks,but will check in every now and then for my fix of food talk!

[gingerly]

a few threads upstream in (the rosogolla thread i think)i came across this

The cane extract was boiled in large earthen pots and made into gur (jaggery), the crushed bagasse being used as fuel. It was then converted into sugar. It is perhaps one of the earliest recorded instances of the production of sugar. The gur was then covered with pata, a type of moss. The bacteria present in the moss fed on the reddish brown impurities in the molasses / jaggery, leaving behind granules of crystal sugar. The sugar produced, despite the rudimentary methods of refining, was almost as pure as, and much tastier than, the mill-made sugar. Today, it is a lost art.

would appreciate it if you could ask your friend what he knows about this moss and any alternative uses for it.

hello v.gautam.i can see why the forum has been bemoaning your absence!

would you care to take a shot at this please?

[gingerly]

oh well -another one for the cold case files.