Social Tables by ForkTales – Platter for the Mother Goddess

The second event by Social Tables choose to tread a path less taken – demystify the idea of non-vegetarian prasad – an idea which is alien to most. And what better than bhog served to the Mother Goddess and the numerous forms that she is worshipped in across Bengal. We brought forth a bit from every belief that the Mother is worshipped with.

The strictly vegetarian Vaishnavs, the Shaktas who evoke her as the divine power and the Tantric belief which sanctions animal sacrifice and ritualistic offering of meat. It was also century and a half old family recipes of prashad, the residue of primitive believes and what every household offers to the resident Lashmi and Saraswati. The taste of prashad, they say, can never be recreated outside the occasion and as vast as traditions are, we could barely touch the surface. But we hope that people went back with good memories of the stories, the mythology and the taste of the food.

For most of us, meat and bhog don’t go together; still others who cannot comprehend a meat curry without onion or garlic. The niramish mangsho merges all these contradictions beautifully and tastefuly into one pot. It also tells the story of how religious beliefs vary over time and regions. We served niramish mangsho at this table.

Thank you everyone for being there. Till the next time when Social Tables brings together more food and stories behind them.