‘Ahare Bangla’ food festival kicks off

The West Bengal government is organising a food festival at the Milan Mela Ground from October 30 to November 2.

An array of dishes, including forgotten ones, fusion food and new-age food, apart from shows by celebrity chefs, seminars on food and songs and dance will be part of the four-day ‘Ahare Bengla’ to be organised by the state.

In what promises to be a foodie’s delight, the carnival will not only have run-of-the-mill Bengali food, such as prawn malaikari and kosha mangsho, but also exotic dishes of quail, turkey , emu and lamb.

Even new and hard-to-get varieties, such as pangash, vennami, basa and vietnami koi, will be part of the mouth-watering spread. Visitors will get to taste culinary delights from across the border with the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission will put up a stall selling mutton kachi biryani and bhuna khichdi.

The animal resources department, along with food processing, information and culture, fisheries, agriculture marketing and micro, small and medium enterprises departments were organising the festival that will also have stalls of livestock development corporation.

Primary objective of the feastval is to promote healthy meat, such as that of quail, emu, turkey, black Bengal goat and pork products that are usually not found in restaurants.