The Colonial Discourse on the Bengali Middle-Class Meal in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

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ABSTRACT This paper brings out the ways in which the British colonizers viewed and characterized the meal of the Bengali middle class in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Through a study of European culinary texts from colonial India, the article will demonstrate the importance of Bengal in colonial discourse. In particular, it will show how and why the Bengali middle-class meal was marked as “filthy,” “unhealthy,” and “innutritious.” The colonial perspective about the meal of the colonized became more nuanced within imperial ideology over time. Especially with the enforcement of racial superiority after the Revolt of 1857, characterizing Bengali meal as “unhealthy” and “enfeebling” highlighted the supposed lack of masculinity among Bengalis.