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For a non-Indian or a non-Bengali wishing to try out Bengali cuisine for the first time, what dishes would you suggest?

We might suggest Luchi, Chholar Daal, Shukto, Chorchori, Muger Daal, Rui Maachh, Mansgshor Jhol, Daab Chingri and many of the other recipes which have familiar ingredients but in unique combinations and a typical Bengali spice blend like ‘panchphoron’ or a finish with ground mustard seeds.

Most non-Bengalis who have not tasted authentic Bengali dishes before are surprised by the variety of fish preparations in the cuisine. Shorshay Ilish, though, is different. It is an iconic dish, and is warmly suggested as such to new guests. While the paste of spices clinging to the fish reminds of many South Indian fish preparations, the similarity ends there. But our guests are more than willing to trust our team and venture into a new journey. Our relationship with our patrons grows as a journey of discovery for them. Most guests begin with such iconic dishes as Shorshay Ilish or Daab Chingri and then progress on to rarer preparations like Lau Pata diye Ilish Paturi.

 

Would you like to share your experience of serving Bengali cuisine to any non-Bengali celebrity?

I have had the good fortune to introduce the subtleties of Bengali cuisine to many well known, non Bengali personalities, both at Oh! Calcutta (at my own restaurant) and at my home. Many of them have fallen head over heels with the cuisine. Some have become passionate crusaders of particular recipes, spreading the good word about them. One of them who come to mind is Sachin Tendulkar. Daab Chingri and Kosha Mangsho are his favourite Bengali dishes. During a test tournament, the Indian cricket squad was in Hyderabad, and Sachin led the young ones into the restaurant, giving them a firsthand guidance about Bengali flavours.

 

Has your research on Bengali cuisine taken you to any small village homes in Bengal or Bangladesh?

Oh! Calcutta is all about the rarer and authentic recipes of both East and West Bengal. Needless to say, it has taken us all around the rural regions in both sides of the border. There are subtle differences between say the Shukto preparation in Bankura and in Nabadwip. Or in the Pabda Jhal in Borishal and in Sylhet, both in Bangladesh. Comilla is one such place, situated deep inside the south eastern part of Bangladesh and along the Dhaka Chittagong Highway. We reached here in pursuit of the authentic recipe for Rosho Malai, a famous dessert of Comilla. There, we met a 72-year-old grandmother who was so intrigued by our love for food that she shared her mother-in-law’s recipes with us.

 

What is the target audience of your recent book Oh! Calcutta?

Gourmets who love authentic cuisines and would go to any length to recreate the flavours, will find this cookbook much to their taste!

 

In Oh! Calcutta, you have referred to Bengalis as great “assimilators and innovators”. What is your take on fusion food taking over the arena of purely traditional recipes?

Our traditional cuisines are not superficial or narrow. They are founded on such a deep understanding of local ingredients and exquisite spice blends that they will never be overwhelmed by foreign flavours. I’m wary of the word, ‘fusion’ as it does not capture the internalisation of new flavours by our cuisines. The word is ‘evolution’. Our cuisines have become richer with every wave of new flavours from other shores. Which can happen only when the roots reach down to a rich, creatively fertile culture. Bengali cuisine shows the way in assimilating culinary influences from other cultures. We have done it for generations. I remember my grandmother as an expert in Dimer Devil and Kaach Kolar Kopta Curry alike. So subtly have the recipes imbibed their English and Mughlai influences that they are genuinely Bengali recipes and not half baked or forced fusions. That is how our cuisines evolve. They take the essential bit and throw away that which will not blend naturally.

 

With globalisation influencing most lifestyle aspects, will cuisines cease to be distinctive to any region or nation in the years to come?

Globalisation has taken regional cuisines far beyond their geographical borders. And helped even the very local cuisines earn a distinct individuality far from home. There are Hunan festivals at Mainland China, celebrating the unique flavour of that distant region. So globalisation does not threaten regional cuisines at all. Chinese, French or Indian cuisines which are already vast and varied can only gain from globalisation. Even Japanese, Mexican, Creole or Caribbean food have become more popular and distinct. All Middle Eastern food were seen as one entity but today, Lebanese cuisine has earned its own distinct place.

I cannot find a better metaphor for it than the moment we won Chefs’ Choice Award at Asia’s best 50 Restaurants for Oh! Calcutta.