Kolkata: The travel and tour operators specialising in the Sunderbans tour are offering a plethora of dishes prepared from Ilish to woo the tourists to the land of Royal Bengal Tigers this monsoon.
“There are still four months to go before the Durga Puja but Sunderbans being a weekend destination, we get tourists throughout the year. Now with the monsoon setting in, the tourists visiting the Sunderbans can tickle their taste buds by gorging on different items prepared from the most iconic fish of the Bengali culinary pantheon, Ilish. The Ilish Utsav will be on from July to August,” Ananda Sarkar of a famous tour operating house. The three day–two night package that comes at the rate of Rs 3,999 per head (in case of hotel lodging) and Rs 2,999 (in case of lodging inside the vessel) is usually the most favoured by the tourists as it covers the major tourist destinations. In this package, items like Begun Ilish, Bhapa Ilish, Ilish Macher Matha diye Pui Saak, Ilish Paturi, Ilish Biryani, Kachu Saak diye Ilish maach will be served along with rice and other items during lunch. The three-day Bengal Tourism Festival that concluded at Khudiram Anusilan Kendra on Sunday saw a number of domestic tour operators vouching for their Ilish Utsav package of Sunderbans ahead of the Durga Puja. Another famous tour operator is offering a variety in the form of Doi Ilish and Sorshe Ilish in their package apart from Begun Ilish, Bhapa Ilish, Ilish Macher Matha diye Pui Saak and Ilish Biryani too. “The monsoon is usually a lean season for tourism in most parts of the state but the fish-loving Bengalees have been coming to Sunderbans to satiate their cravings for Ilish,” said an official.