Which bengali sweets foreigners like

Hi,

My German client is in Kolkata. My team is thinking to gift him Bengali sweets for his colleagues back home. My question is directed mainly towards those foreign tourists who have had tasted Bengali sweets, loved them so much that they took those sweets with them.

My questions are:

• Which sweets would you suggest for my client. Remember that the sweet must remain fresh for 2 days as my client would leave Kolkata on Saturday and report back to his office on Monday.
• Are there any restrictions on carrying dairy products on international flights? Can immigration at his country or any transit country stop him from carrying those sweets?
• How about misthi doi (sweet curd)?
• I don't want to gift canned rasogollas as I did not like the taste of them. They are best when served fresh.

Please suggest.

I would suggest the sondesh that keeps for a few days without a fridge. Yes, there are restrictions on carrying food on international flights! It will not be permitted in hand luggage. It would have to be packed in a suitcase in the checked baggage. Therefore it needs to be that drier kind of sondesh that will not be spoiled in transit. I have received such a box of Bengali sweets in Paris from a friend travelling to France from Delhi via London and it kept very well. After I opened it, I kept it in the fridge and it was still delicious.

I think TD means korapak sandesh. It will stay fine for 2-3 days.
Otherwise send kaju barfis - its not bengali but it will stay fine and delicious for weeks.

Bengali sweets are meant to be eaten within 1 day of preparation of the sweet.

I would opt for Rasmalai if the appropriate leak-proof container could be procured. An advantage with the liquid would be that it feels like fresh even after arrival.

Karapak Sandesh can stay up to 5-6 days even without refrigeration. I have experienced it myself.

That is because they are on the dry side, even hard, isn't it?

OPs question actually is Which bengali sweets foreigners like. The liking part should not be overlooked. In general, at least to my experience, foreigners who are not India fans aren't that impressed by Indian sweets as Indians seem to be. A reason why Indians like sweets (perhaps unknown to some) is that sugar has a cooling effect on the body. So the habit of giving sweets to a guest visiting a family is, besides its just being a tasty treat, like a well-wishing gesture: May you be well and happy.

I think it lacks that effect of being really special. Sweetened yoghurt (even though in the unboiled variety) is very common in the west.

To be distinctively Indian the sweets should have at least some Cardamom and perhaps Saffron taste.

Misty doi tastes totally different from sweetened yoghurt. It doesnt really taste like any kind of yoghurt.

Carrying it would be foolhardy.

Go for korapak.

Sure it tastes different. But no German colleague of OPs guest would see how it should be so damn special to be carried all the way from India.

I love bengali sweets !

But honestly think sending them across to someone who might not even know how to eat or serve them can be tough.

Like rasmali and rosogulla taste awesome when cool and might not be as impressive when it is warm and dripping in a cubicle full of colleuges. Eating such sweets can be messy and tricky at work places.

I would say go with something like kaju katli or dryfruit barfi etc which is easy to manage at work and does not bowls, spoons, tissues etc while eating.

These are not Bengali Sweets. But if the idea is to suggest something dry, there are Bengali varieties/alternatives also.

Yes , sorry if it was nto clear.
My intention is to suggest that Bengali sweets might not be the best sweet to suite the purpose. Something else might work out better.

I honestly don't know what this means! Is it some kind of an ayurvedic concept? Do Indians eat more sweets in the peak of summer? If anything, at least in Bengal, sweets consumption (along with the varieties available) probably picks up in winter!

In any case, taking the proclamation at its face value, -- and knowing that treats every bit as sweet (albeit of different kinds) are just as popular in colder climes in the west, I wonder if it is not equivalent to inviting misery on guests treated there to such delicacies?



I wonder what percentage of Bengali sweets would fit that bill!

... Or Indian cuisine in general, for that matter. Is it not distinct, regardless?!



I agree that korapak sondesh is likely to be best suited to the requirements. Perhaps the OP's German client should be treated to a variety of sweets available, and be requested to make the final call?

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The nostalgia factor which makes native Bengalis long for certain sweets when they are far from home, and which even a foreigner feels after having tasted Bengali sweets, does not necessarily make for a good present for a German person who has never visited India!

Okay. I am now officially itching to travel 20 miles to the nearest Indian supermarket and buy out the sweets section this very minute. Unfortunately I can't get there until Wednesday.

Gee, thanks, guys.

I WISH I could take mishti doi back home with me!