Silver, Oil, and Bone: The Sensory Making of Ilish in Bengali Literature and Culinary Print, 1800–1947

This article examines how ilish acquired its privileged position in Bengali culinary culture between 1800 and 1947. Drawing on Bengali literary works, cookbooks, dictionaries, colonial natural histories, fisheries reports, and market narratives, it analyzes naming, sensory vocabulary, metaphor, and prescriptive culinary language. The study traces how the fish’s silver appearance, natural oiliness, distinctive aroma, soft flesh, numerous bones, seasonality, and riverine provenance became signs of refined taste, domestic expertise, environmental knowledge, and regional identity. It also investigates how colonial labels such as hilsa and “hilsa shad” translated vernacular knowledge into scientific and commercial categories. The article argues that the prestige of ilish was historically produced through the interaction of colonial taxonomy, print culture, urban markets, gendered cooking practices, and embodied skills of selection, preparation, and eating. It demonstrates how sensory language can serve as primary evidence for understanding culinary value, social distinction, and environmental change.