Culinary Artistry in Bangladesh

In most of the world's histories of art and culture, contributions by women has been kept in silent. When we visit any museum or art gallery, it seems like a triumphal success narrative of men. In my experience art and cultural practice in Bangladesh is mainly managed and preserved by women. But the official spaces of preserving art and culture barely acknowledge the female folk artists who are in most cases the active tradition bearers in our society. 

In this short blog post, I would relocate our spectacle to women’s various traditional culinary practices that are at the core of South Asian identity, and heritage. I truly believe that is a matter of strength, instead their recognition hugely overlooked officially, it does not stop women contributing to the south Asian history, culture and tradition making and preserving.

Women are pivotal in safeguarding and advancing the regional culinary legacy. They uphold age-old cooking techniques, employ indigenous ingredients, and actively transmit ancestral recipes to succeeding generations. Cooking plays a profound role in fostering familial and communal ties in South Asia. Through meal preparation and communal dining, women frequently serve as catalysts for bringing individuals together, nurturing solidarity and cultural cohesion within communities. During festivals and jubilations, women exhibit their culinary prowess by crafting special delicacies that form an indispensable component of cultural observances. Keeping the symbolic significance alive through culinary practice, homemade foods are the strong medium of maintaining family bonding and creating communities.

Celebrations like Eid, Muharram, Shab e Barat, and Ramadan are observed by the Muslim community in Bangladesh. Hindus observe different festivals (Puja), including Durga Puja, Krishna Janmashtami, Kali Puja, Diwali, Saraswati Puja, and many more pujas. Christians observe Christmas Day which is known as Baradin in Bangladesh. All these celebrations are incomplete if you put aside the culinary practice of women. Since my childhood, I have seen that without my mother’s cooking, any festival never feels like a festival. On a special day, my mom makes Khichuri, a traditional food prepared with rice, and different lentils added with beef or chicken. In a big pot, mom can cook khichuri for 100/200 people. On celebration friends and relatives visit our place and nobody ever leaves our home without appreciating how delicious her food is. I really wonder of how different rice dishes are prepared by Bangladeshi female.

This variation of rice dishes directs me to the core idea of creating aesthetics in everyday life. The idea of aesthetics, though focused on fine arts during the 18th and 19th centuries, concentrates on everyday aesthetics in the postmodern era. In this new idea aesthetics includes objects, events, and activities that constitute people’s daily life. The new idea acknowledges and appreciates the entirety of people's diverse aesthetic experiences, encompassing various aspects of everyday life. Aesthetics is not a necessity but still, people choose to make that for the purpose of making it creative and look beautiful.

In my experience, the culinary practices that women perform on special occasions and festivals the various rice dishes are exactly the true examples of the culinary aesthetics of females in our country. They can make plain white rice, but when it is a special day, they turn the white rice into something different, something more delicious and colourful. With the urge to make the day different from ordinary life they invest their creativity in cooking. Their creativity is expressed in terms of their delicious dishes. Different rice making preparations include khichuri, biriyani, polau, morog polau, tehari, jorda, finni, boua vhat, jau, kajir vhat, panta vhat, lamb biriyani, chicken biriani, sabji polau, sabji biriyani, fried rice.

For me, to understand women’s creativity in culinary, we must ask a question what intention led women to make different dishes by using the same ingredient? The answer is that they wanted to make the special day out of the ordinary. This tendency to prepare different dishes out of everyday ingredients shows the aesthetic and creative skill of women folk in our culture. 

Besides religious festivals, secular festivals like Pahela Boishak the first day of Bangla New Year, Nobanno Utshov, Pohela Falgun women heighten the essence of such special occasions by making special dishes. The first day of Bangla New Year is represented by the traditional dish called Panta Ilish. During Nobanno also known as pitha puli utshob a common practice in villages, women folk are busy in making pithas for their families, and relatives. Every house prepares pithas (traditional cake) and share love and joy by exchanging pithas with neigbours and relatives. Popular pithas are- bhapa pitha, pati shapta, bhija pitha, chetoi pitha.  Homemade sweets and desserts by Bangladeshi women are another culinary practice that often represents joy and happy occasions.

For example, during birth, wedding, or any good news, we make memories by eating sweets made by women. During any mourning, the grief is also experienced through simple food prepared by women.  In conclusion, I would like to direct you to examine society through the lens of culinary practices. If we see culture and heritage through the lens of culinary practice, we can recognize the indispensable role of women. Celebrating occasions through culinary traditions isn't solely a feminine pursuit; rather, it's foundational to human civilization. The power and agency of women have always been present in our society.

However, it is our patriarchal mindset that often obscures the significance of the kitchen—a space where women assert autonomy and creativity. At last but not least I would like to express my gratitude to Yeasoon Nessa Amily, a talented culinary artist and dear friend, who offered a glimpse into the rich tapestry of culinary skills found in every household across our country.

All the photos used in the writing are copyrighted to Amily. I acknowledge her time and trust for allowing me to use her photos and culinary experience in my writing.  I hope this short writing will allow us to delve deeper into the profound significance of female culinary work and its meaningful impact on our communities.