Your Table Needs a Bone Plate

Here’s the thing about Bangladeshi cooking: There is no such thing as “boneless” in our culinary shibboleth — be it meat or fish. In fact, learning how to sift for pin bones is a pivotal rite of passage for us. And biting into a rogue cardamom or clove is an inevitable fate, so much so that it’s become a diasporic meme. But that’s a small price to pay for a plate of restorative biryani. 

Through the Western culinary lens, these scraps might seem inconvenient, dangerous even (particularly when it comes to fish and pin bones). But to us, the inedible byproducts are equally as inherent to our way of eating. That’s why no Bangladeshi dining table is complete without these small dishes we call “bone plates,” where all our discards go.