A Taste of Time: A Food History of Calcutta

by Mohona Kanjilal

Calcutta, once the nucleus of the Raj, was at the heart of a thriving economy and unparalleled administration. 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.

The heady romance of palates and flavours in the ‘Royal Capital’ has fostered diversity in food and culture all the while adhering to the city’s Bengali roots.

A Taste of Time is an insightful journey through the ever-changing landscape of Calcutta’s food and cultural milieu, from its decades-old cutlet, jhal muri, and puchka stalls to its iconic continental restaurants like Firpo’s and Flurys; from its oldest tea shop, Favourite Cabin, set up in 1924, to the 21st-century fine-dining restaurant three sixty three. Mohona Kanjilal, through her immaculate research, deftly captures the stories behind the city’s endearing culture of ‘bikel chaar-ter cha’ (tea at 4 p.m.); its renowned bakeries like Nahoum’s; and the invention of rasogollas and samosas (or shingara).

Diving into Calcutta’s dazzling history, she explores how the food habits of
early European settlers, Jewish, Armenian, Chinese, Parsi and other expats, and the city’s next-door neighbours like Darjeeling and Odisha, have made the culinary fabric of Calcutta immensely rich and layered.

This delightful and comprehensive history of food in Calcutta, peppered with mouth-watering nuggets, recipes and intriguing accounts of some revolutionary personalities of Bengal will appeal to the mind and tastebuds alike.

Genres: Food, India, History, Food History, Nonfiction, Food Writing, Food and Drink

512 pages, Paperback

Published April 15, 2021

Reviews

[Dipra Lahiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A commendable effort - very comprehensive analysis of the Calcutta's food history - which even native Bengalis will learn a lot from. One hopes that entrepreneurs take inspiration from this book and try their hand in sustaining the dying cuisines (like Parsi, Jewish) that have been been so integral to the cosmopolitan and liberal ethos of the city.

[Sudipt Roy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not fully. This 500+ page tome needs some ruthless editing. Reminds me of an undergraduate presentation where the student makes 50 slides for a 10-minute slot and is too much in love with all the slides to be able delete even one. Good and interesting stuff, however, but don't have that kind of time!

[Abhïshék Ghosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mohona carefully parses though centuries of history and cultural folklore to reveal the undercurrent of Bengali cuisine; a whoe spectrum of food that is often monolithically characterised as just "maach bhaat" or "rice and fish". From the array of vegetarian options, to strong influences of the many inhabitants of the land (the Portuguese, British, Jews, Muslim dynasties) in our unending options for desserts, Mohona's book is such a pleasure to read through. The book does digress from culinary history to cookbook in the second half, but that motivated me to stock my home in Copenhagen with a generous supply of spices and look up a lot of new recipes, so I guess that is a win anyway!

[Ingrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Food. Kolkata. History. How could a book at that intersection be anything other than enthralling? Yet the author manages to weigh it down with tedious detail about topics from the history of tea and coffee to the Persian empire, ingredient lists, and repetition that make it a slog rather than a stroll through one of the most magnificent food landscapes in the world. She does hit all the high spots - legendary restaurants, colourful anecdotes and personalities, and the interwoven culinary threads that weave Bengal, Bangladesh, Bihar, Odisha, China, Armenia, Britain and beyond. A sharper editor’s pencil would make all the difference.

[Rhonda Wiley-Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my research purposes while writing my novel, Song of Herself, set in India, this was a great companion to help me find tidbits of authentic information on food and eating styles at home and in the city of Calcutta specifically.

No, I've not read near all of it. In fact, some of it is of no value to me. BUT the parts I needed for my book were so very helpful. If you are a foodie or interested in International cuisine, I would highly recommend it.

[Kumar Anshul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A massively well-researched book that begins from the foundation of Kolkata as a city and the multitudes of communities who made it their home, eventually burgeoning its culinary diversity.

[Debjani Banerji · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book A Taste of Time seemed promising in the beginning as it talks about the culinary history of Calcutta.
It does touch upon a lot of old Calcutta food, restaurants that are no more. It goes back to the Pre Moghul times also and talks about introduction of various fruits and vegetables in the Indian culinary scene. Mostly from Portuguese. The book is interesting in parts for the historical evolution of the Calcutta Culinary skills, the old restaurants that are no more and on the various mix of food culture from various communities that make the Calcutta food scene so interesting.

My problem with the book is the staid way of writing. It sometimes seemed you are reading a boring journal. There is no play of words or a story woven into. Vir Sanghvis's Rude Food, The Indian Pantry, Chitrita Banerjee, The Calcutta Cook book, they all make far more interesting reads.

Also the binding of the book is loose and pages started coming off while reading. The Food pictures could have been better.

But good to see my foodie friends all mentioned in the book. Pritha Sen, Doma Wang, Manzilat Fatima, Bibi Sarkar, Prithvish Chakrabarti, Elika Awomi, and many more.

#djreads #Atasteoftime #Mohonakanjilal #Speakingtiger