The essence of Bengali food lies in fish and sweets. If you want to experience the taste of authentic Bengali cuisine then you should start getting comfortable with fish and rice. Yes, that is what being a typical Bengali means; hogging on food, food and more food.
Some of the fish specialties associated with Bengali cuisine include 'shorshe eelish' (Hilsa cooked in mustard gravy), 'Rui machher kaalia' (spicy onion gravy made with Rohu fish), 'chingdi malaikari', (prawn delicacy prepared with coconut), 'paabda maacher jhaal' (spicy curry prepared with a local fish called paabda), to name a few. Just as all other cuisiines, the uniquemness of the Bengali cuisine lies in its cooking techniques, spices, and ingredients.
Apart from its fish delicacies, the sweets of Bengal are famous all across the country. Not only they come in a huge variety, their usage and significance vary depending on the occasion they are prepared to celebrate. 'Mishti Doi' (sweet curd) is one of the most famous Bengali sweets savored by all. Some of the other mouthwatering Bengali sweets are Rasgulla, Sandesh, Patishapta, Rasmalai, Payesh, etc.
Apart from fish and sweets there are a lot of vegetarian, mutton, and chicken delicacies which bear the essence of the Bengali cuisine.
