Being a ‘Provasi’ UP-Bengali with an all-rounder’s eating predilections, I confess that unlike the pure-bred Kolkata ones, the adjectives like ‘Khaddo-roshik’ (food and surely fish lovers !) mayn’t apply to me. I’ve neither the refined aesthetic taste for the delicacies nor in-depth knowledge of Bengali culinary fine arts that a ’Bhadralok’ grows up with. I am just a ‘normal’ foodie with a special liking for certain dishes that grace our kitchens.
Having said that, I recall during our 2016 US trip, my younger sister, Kay Bose, was all excited to host us at her home in Indiana following our US tour. She had been stocking her huge fridge with goodies, enough to feed a hungry army ! It came as rude shock to her when I called ‘Please only keep lots of ‘bhaat, daal & aloo-posto’ for us. As expected she said ‘You kidding, no way ?’ little realizing we were craving for home-made food !
So what’s it about this ‘combo’ that keeps the Bong palate so satiated. There’s nothing about the ‘Ashol’ (real) Bangali that doesn’t have history. So they eat posto (white poppy seeds) because it originated as a survival food from the colonial opium trade and evolved into a beloved cultural staple. It is said that after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the East India Company forced Bengali farmers to grow poppies for the illegal opium trade. Local families and lower-caste women gathered leftover, non-narcotic poppy seeds discarded from factories. Grinding them into a paste (posto bata) turned a cheap waste product into a rich culinary staple.
Most old-world Bengali women excel in making dishes like Aloo Posto or Jhinge Posto which combined with hot dal and steaming white rice, provides a comforting balance of textures. Traditional belief holds that poppy seeds help cool the body down during the hot and humid summers. Posto is culturally tied to the lazy afternoon siesta, thanks to the soothing, relaxing quality of the meal after a heavy afternoon feast. Now you know !
But even the traditional dish ‘Posto’ is now being subjected to innovation as we read in today’s fascinating article in ‘Indian Express’ by ‘Kaushik Dasgupta’. It’s a must read for foodies and culinary experts, even if you’re not the conventional ‘posto’ lover like me !
