Not many people know about Rabindranath Tagore’s love for food. In fact, he was a true Bengali foodie who enjoyed indulging in, creating and reinventing delicious meals. Despite being a busy writer and thinker, Tagore made sure to make time for his culinary interests. His experiments with food led to the creation of the unique Tagore cuisine. His love for food is an aspect of his personality that adds to the depth and complexity of his character.
Tagore is frequently celebrated in the kitchens of major restaurants and hotels, as well as other circles for Thakurbarir Ranna (foods from the Tagore household kitchen). Oddly enough, the writer who had a prolific output of poems, fiction, songs, prose, essays and letters, never wrote a single cookbook. However, the influence of the Tagore family extended beyond the arts, music, dance, clothing and architecture and even included Bengali cuisine.
Tagore was often asked to attend high society balls, ceremonies and parties all across the world. As a result, the Tagore kitchen literally became a culinary melting pot of cultures, where recipes were created and modified and tailored to please the household’s palate. Tagore developed a deep interest in food, and his favourites were said to be “maachh o mishti” (fish and sweets), leading his wife Mrinalini Devi to prepare luxurious feasts centred around these dishes.
Tagore was famous for collecting menu cards from the balls, intellectual gatherings and state functions which he attended during his globetrotting and they subsequently influenced him to introduce delicacies such as Baked Fish, Irish Stew, meat pies and roasts and the Hindustani Turkish Kebab to his rannaghar. He also had an unusual preference for turning seemingly unappetising foods into delicacies by adding seasoning of lime, neem juice and even some eggs to raw vegetables and creating a dish.
Under Tagore’s influence, his household became a hub of innovation and culinary invention, with dishes like Niramish Dimer Dalna, a vegetarian egg curry made by stuffing mashed lentils into hollowed-out potatoes and cooking them in gravy. The Tagore kitchen would prepare dishes such as a combination of jackfruit and pointed gourd cooked with green mango; Beet Baata, which involved boiling beetroot and blending it with poppy seeds and a dash of green chillies; Beguner Chutney, where eggplant was turned into a sweet chutney with tamarind, ginger, sugar, and mango pulp; and Bhaat-er Chop, fritters/ chops made with rice which had been left over from the previous night’s meal.
The varied recipes from the Tagore kitchen showcase how the family loved experimenting and innovating with flavours and palates. The family’s passion for diverse cuisines was evident from the dishes they served. The poet’s love for world cuisine was also reflected in dishes such as English pies, Salmon in Hollandaise Sauce, Mutton Vindaloo, Meat Noodles and Filipino Chicken Curry. One intriguing dish, Egg Sauce, turned out to be made with mayonnaise, leaving diners momentarily puzzled. Like a modern-day restaurant, Tagore’s kitchen was not limited to any particular cuisine.
Rabindranath Tagore, during his travels within the country, picked up recipes for his kitchen. Among them one was Palak Paneer from Punjab, which used to be cooked often in Thakurbarir Rannaghar. The bard had an experimental and unique relationship with food throughout his life, though he himself did not eat much but always insisted on sharing food with everyone around him. If anyone was visiting him, he made sure that they did not leave the house on an empty stomach.
For example, to show his playful relationship with food during the gatherings at Khamkheyali Sabha, an informal club where he and his friends would gather to eat and engage in discussion, he was resolute that only unique and distinctive dishes should be served during the gatherings.
The poet’s better half, Mrinalini, often fulfilled his curious requests and interventions, leading to the creation of what we call Tagore cuisine. The cuisine had many unusual dishes like Jackfruit Yoghurt Fish Curry (which, in fact, did not contain any fish), Parwal and Prawn Raita, Mutton in Mustard Paste, Jimikand Jalebi, Dahi Malpua, and even the famed Kabishambardhana Barfi, a unique gift to the bard by his niece on his 50th birthday.
Mrinalini had conceived a unique kind of Gaja (fried sweet) which Rabindranath named Elojhelo and which later on came to be known as Paribondho. The poet had a personal liking for Bhapa Ilish (steamed hilsa), European dishes such as Cream of Tomato Soup and Salmon in Hollandaise sauce and Roasted Mutton Cooked with Pineapple, among others.
It can be easily said that Tagore was a prominent food influencer during his time, though there were no blogs, vlogs and social media. The bard appeared for Cadbury’s Bournvita and Godrej’s vegetable soap advertising campaigns and even wrote a couplet for Lipton Tea lovers waiting for their water to boil for tea.
Tagore had a unique ability to bridge Eastern and Western cultures, and his approach to food reflected this too. He was known to enjoy both traditional Bengali dishes and Western-style pies and patties. Nowadays, we all talk about fusion food and its innovation. However, Rabindranath Tagore can be called the pioneer in the world of fusion cuisine.
His passion for food led him to experiment with various ingredients, spices, herbs and flavours of different cultures, creating unique and delicious recipes. He combined the traditional Bengali cuisine with influences from Western and Asian cuisines, resulting in mouth-watering dishes that were ahead of their time.
Most of the recipes of Thakurbarir Rannaghar are still not known to many because of the time and passion it takes to create some of the dishes, lack of awareness, as many old recipes have been forgotten.
Being born and brought up in Calcutta, and being passionate about food, I love Bengali cuisine and have experienced different culinary traditions of Bengal like Ghoti, Bangal and Thakurbarir cuisine. The innovation and intricacy of Thakurbarir Ranna has always fascinated me and has led me to research the various repertoires of recipe, and translating and compile them in English so that they are available for people across the globe.
My vision is to create a module of Thakurbarir Ranna, with the help and support of my chef friends, so that people can learn the art of making Thakurbari recipes just like they learn other cusines like Thai, Chinese and Mughlai. That might ensure that Tagore’s food legacy lives on.
Pictures courtesy the author
MISHTI DOI MALPUA
Ingredients
Mishti doi: 500g
Refined flour (maida): 100 gm
Fennel seeds: 1tsp
Ghee: For frying
Sugar: 1 cup
Water: 1 cup
Cardamom Powder- 0.5 tsp Method
Whisk the Mishti doi with the flour. Whisk well.
Add fennel seeds to the batter.
In hot ghee, add one ladleful of batter.
Fry till puffed up and light golden in colour.
Add the Malpuas in hot sugar syrup flavoured with cardamom powder.
Satnam Singh Ahluwalia is a food curator, F&B brand conceptualiser, independent culinary menu designer at Options Unlimited, and can be reached at opts.unlimited@gmail.com