The City of Joy is well-known for its music, cinema, and delicious food, especially the mouth-watering sweets. In fact, it’s rather hard not to run into a sweet shop in almost every corner of the city, including the narrowest of the lanes. And, it’s equally hard to find a Bengali who is not in love with their ‘mishti’. Kolkatans are incredibly proud of the sweets of Bengal and their unique appeal. And for a good reason too — Bengali sweets have wooed Indians and foreigners alike.
As early as the 7th century, Chinese emperor Tai-Hung purportedly sent his men to ancient Gauda, with its thriving sugarcane plantations, to learn the art of refining sugar. Gauda region derived its ancient name from gur or jaggery. This explains Bengal’s age-old tradition of making sugar lumps, famously called monda (mithai) of different kinds, like the tiny phul batasha or pheni, mathh and kodma that are often a part of ritualistic offering.
A nearly 400 year old Bengal love story is all set to hit the global stage when Kolkata plays host to one of the country’s biggest festivals. The three day Jugal’s Literature Festival (JLF) – to take place from December 9-11 will be one of the largest gatherings of writers. intelligentia, historians, food aficionados, stalwarts from the world of cinema and theatre and global Kolkatans from across the world for whom mishti is an intrinsic part of their DNA. To be spread across 10 venues that will bring together some of Kolkata’s iconic addresses – both traditional homes, art galleries and modern institutions, each venue will for the first time ever, also have the world’s longest tables of mishti with over a 60 variety spread out – long enough to create a world record of sorts.
The festival is the brainchild of an India-Canadian 30 year old Lahana Ghosh – who decided to give up her cushy job in the financial district of Vancouver to return to her roots in Kolkata and give the mishti industry the respect it deserves. Interestingly, she is breaking every glass ceiling by creating the first ever all women’s kitchen of mishti makers – bringing down one of the last remaining bastions of a male dominated industry. Lahana’s grandfather started Jugal’s which turns 100 years old in 2023 and the JLF will be the renowned Ghosh family’s gift to the City of Joy.
Lahana Ghosh says “Not only will it be the first literary fest on Mishti in the world but the first ever literary fest on food in the world. Food and mishti is the only medium through which we do not see discrimination. An American white man enjoys Indian food just the way a brown Indian man enjoys burgers and fries. When we eat biryani we do not see the origin of the food, or the religion of the person who made it. Food is the only thing we do not hesitate to consume regardless of its history or religious influences, or the community that made it”. “The goal is to start the conversation on how different cultures have influenced our food, our sustenance and how we have accepted and incorporated those influences in our food without any complaint. IF we apply the same values to our day to day lives, we will hopefully become more accepting towards other cultures and hopefully live in a society that is undivided. These origins and influences on our cuisine must be documented so we do not forget the fact that we are humans first”.
