Classifying Bengali Cuisine

[rummate]

Hi Guys,

Me a new member.I have been researching on macro-micro reginal cuisines of India.How many types of cuisine does Bengal or for that matter Bangla have?(Ghoti and Bangal types r at a general level but what abut regional level cuisines?)

[Monica Bhide]

Rummate - Welcome to the India forum. Do tell us a bit about yourself. What is the purpose of your research?

[Monica Bhide]

Rummate -- if you look thru some old threads here you will find some information about the other cuisines you mentioned to me that you are looking for. Also I did a class on some familiar Indian cuisines that you can find here.. Basic regional

[mongo_jones]

Hi Guys,

Me a new member.I have been researching on macro-micro reginal cuisines of India.How many types of cuisine does Bengal or for that matter Bangla have?(Ghoti and Bangal types r at a general level but what abut regional level cuisines?)

as for the granularity of bengali food the distinctions i am aware of are the east-bengal/west-bengal distinctions on the one hand (these would be regional-cultural); these are each doubtless themselves sliced further in terms of religion and caste. there are probably distinctions on a number of different axes but i am not aware of any formal taxonomy. then there's the whole question of bangladeshi food, which despite being in the territory of former east-bengal is not coterminous with the east-bengali food of west-bengal.

once again your best bet would be the long-absconding v.gautam.

[rummate]

Mongo--- I guess not much has been written abut the diversities in cuisine of Bengal/Bangla.Probably districts like Birbhum or Midnapur will have certain tribal cuisines which even die hard bong foodies are not aware off.I dont want to include the district of Darjeeling as its culture/cuisine is really very very different.Still lot to explore.BTW any place where i can contact Mr. Gautam?

[mongo_jones]

Mongo--- I guess not much has been written abut the diversities in cuisine of Bengal/Bangla.Probably districts like Birbhum or Midnapur will have certain tribal cuisines which even die hard bong foodies are not aware off.I dont want to include the district of Darjeeling as its culture/cuisine is really very very different.Still lot to explore.BTW any place where i can contact Mr. Gautam?

well, at the risk of veering way off topic (though when has this ever stopped me?):

i don't know about including tribal cuisines in a taxonomy of "bengali" cuisine; given the ways in which tribal cultures all over indian have run parallel to the mainstreams suddenly yoking the tribes in bengal into a "bengali" identity begs all kinds of other questions. the first question would be whether you are defining "bengali" just in geographic terms? as in anyone who lives within the boundaries of the current state of west bengal. if so, you might include various tribes as well--as also calcutta marwaris etc. however, if you are defining "bengali" culturally i don't know that tribes like the sabars and santals think of themselves as "bengali" or are thought of that way by people who do think of themselves as bengali.

also given the state of most tribal groups in bengal, assam and bihar (and probably elsewhere as well) talking about tribal "cuisine" may seem a little obscene.

as for gautam: look for posts by v.gautam and send him a p.m. if his p.m alert is still being sent to a valid email address he'll probably respond. the man is an encyclopedia on the cultural history/geography of bengali food.

[bong]

Hi Guys,

Me a new member.I have been researching on macro-micro reginal cuisines of India.How many types of cuisine does Bengal or for that matter Bangla have?(Ghoti and Bangal types r at a general level but what abut regional level cuisines?)

mongo_jones is right, the two most well-known broad categories are "ghoti" (west bengal/calcutta) and "bangal" (bangladesh/east bengal/dhaka).

Then there is also the Bengali Hindu and Bengali Muslim cuisines. "Rezala" (both Chicken and Mutton) is one of the more well-known dishes of Bengali Muslim cuisine.

Inside of Bengali Hindu cuisine, there is also the "Baishnab" (followers of Vishnu) cuisine, which is generrally speaking vegetarian. The Bengali Hindu widows tradtionally have another category of cuisine -- vegetarian, no onion, no garlic etc.

You can categorise it by subregions as well, like always. And as usual, there never is a hard line of demarcation between these various cuisines.