Customer Reviews

Life and Food in Bengal

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The author talks about food in Bengal (West Bengal, India and Bangladesh) and explains its relationship to Bengali culture, seasons, and festivals. She shows how food in some ways dominates Bengali life. Her writing is interesting, lucid and informative. She draws an intimate portrait of a typical Bengali middle class family and their relationship to food. The recipes are provided along with their cultural context. Great book for a cook, also great for someone who wants to know about Bengali culture.

I am really interested in Indian food, cooking it and eating it and reading about it. I went through this book with a pen in hand, underlining the names of particular foods mentioned. The author tries to put Indian food in their cultural context, a kind of demystifying of Indian food. She travels across India in her food quest, and provides many snapshots of different regions. She loves eating the food she talks about. Why I didn't give this book 5 stars: the author's language needs, I think, editing: pruning here, working for a more felicitious phrase there. Was it rushed into print? But I think that both neophyte and advanced cooks will enjoy the book.