Time to hoose your favourite sweets

Back in the old days, there was your streetcorner mistanna bhandar. There was a glass showcase, where the sweets sat in piles or swam in bowls — browns, yellows and milky whites — waiting for customers. You stepped into the shop, chose your sweets and the shopkeeper swiftly packed it for you. And that was that.
But times, as Dylan said, they are a-changin’.The shops have become bigger and swankier. The homely rosogolla has travelled abroad in tins, you can walk into a mall and buy the choicest Kolkata sweets and some of the stuff can even be ordered online. But the best part is that the city’s sweets are still the same — soft, melt-in-your-mouth pieces of delight. It is this spirit of Kolkata and its passion and pride for its sweets that we at Calcutta Times celebrate with Madly Mishti. A huge success for the past two years, the festival starts today and goes on till early November.
But what’s so special about the city’s sweets? The confectioners — keeping time with the fast-changing world and the poriborton sweeping over the state — have given their sweets the right tweak to make them appeal to modern palates. There’s that low-cal sandesh for the health freak type. For the fusion-minded, there’s stuff like chocolate-and strawberry-flavoured rosogolla. But those with a yen for dry sweets, the baked badam barfi is a fantastic innovation.
Does that mean that old and traditional sweets are out? Mention that to a sweet-loving Kolkatan and he’ll pick up a fight with you. This is still the city where people can debate for hours over which shop makes the best doi. And why the rosogolla is the best at a particular north Kolkata outlet. Or when is the peak season for nolen gurer mishti.
Such is the allure of Kolkata sweets that one can even demand a geographical indication (GI) tag for the products. They may sell ‘Kolkata mishti’ in Delhi, Bangalore or Mumbai but people there — your extended list of friends and relatives — know that there’s still no substitute for authentic Kolkata sweets. Which is why, every time you travel out, there’s that request for kora paker sandesh, rosogolla or some other sweet delight.
It’s this love and passion that Madly Mishti is all about. The categories this year are Rosogolla, Mishti Doi, Sandesh and Fusion Mishti. It’s your vote that counts as mishti aficionados can nominate their favourites via SMS or online (see box). From the swanky outlet to the para shop — all can be voted for. Based on readers’ votes and jury decisions, CT will announce the four winners. So, get set and vote for the mishti you are mad about. And let your palate do the talking.