Kolkata winters are rarely bone-chilling but Kolkatans make no bones about enjoying every ounce of the year-end, holiday spirit. Playing dress-up in boots and indulging in nostalgic bakes and beverages is a good way to start the winter in the city. My Kolkata takes you down memory lane to revisit some classic winter delights.
Hot chocolate from Mrs. Magpie
Easily the most sought after hot chocolate in the city, Mrs Magpie’s offering is a cheery holiday treat. It’s rich, luscious and its smooth creaminess is achieved by mixing decadent chocolate ganache with hot milk. Add in some homemade marshmallows to your steaming cuppa to see them slowly melt away or binge on them on the side!
Vanilla fudge from Nahoum and Sons
The New Market bakery has been around since 1902 and creates some of the best confections, especially during winters. One of their best seasonal offerings is the fudge. Available in vanilla and chocolate, Nahoum’s fudge is a luscious treat that melts away in your mouth as soon as you bite into it and has a creamy milky taste to it. It’s pretty sweet, but what’s Christmas binging without a sugar rush?
Strawberries and cream from Krishna Juice Centre
Located at the Metro Plaza Shopping Complex on Russel Street, this hidden gem serves the freshest strawberry and cream during the winters. It’s quintessentially British and an ode to the yesteryears, and despite being a modest medley, the flavour combination of fresh fruits topped with whipped sweet cream is undoubtedly a classic.
Rich Fruit Christmas Cake from Saldanha Bakery
The fourth-generation bakery just off Park Street on Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road has been a big favourite with the people of the city. It’s currently run by Alisha Alexander, a Le Cordon Bleu graduate, who took over the business in 2016 and has been involved with the bakery since she was a young girl.
Their Rich Fruit Christmas Cake is a classic and its recipe is a family heirloom. “We have been making it for almost 90 years and we follow the same traditional recipe devised by my great grandmother," Alisha tells us.
The cake is laden with mixed fruits like raisins, spices and nuts that are soaked in their special flavour enhancer well in advance, reveals Alisha.
Chimney soup from Eau Chew
Believed to be established in 1926, Ganesh Chandra Avenue’s Eau Chew has one of the best savoury winter delights—their famous Chimney Soup.
Josephine Li Ying Huang, 66, whose son Joel now runs the family-run eating house, told us about the invention of the Chimney Soup. Full of veggies, meat, fish, this flavourful broth is kept on a rolling boil in a special metal pot that has coal in it to ensure the soup remains hot.
“When I was younger, the winters in Kolkata were harsh. My husband's grandmother would make soup and it would barely reach the table before it got cold; she devised this method to keep it warm. Today, it’s famous as Eau Chew’s Chimney Soup,” Josephine shares.
Makki Roti and Sarson Saag at Balwant Singh Eating House
Balwant Singh Eating House has been serving delightful vegetarian dishes since 1926. So how can we not add this evergreen classic to this nostalgic list? Available from the third week of November till mid-February, their Makki Roti and Sarson Saag is a meal so fulfilling you’ll keep asking for more. The roti is drenched in ghee and has a bright yellow colour owing to the makki (made out of cornmeal) which is served with a delectable green sarson saag (curried mustard greens). Paired together, this winter delicacy is a must-try.
Litti Chokha from Litti King
The litti chokha is a delicacy that’s native to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh; small balls of dough are stuffed with gram flour and other spices and dry-roasted over an open fire. It then gets dunked in ghee and is served with a side of roasted eggplant mash (i.e, the ‘chokha’) along with a roasted tomato chutney which makes the meal all the more fulfilling. Try the litti from Litti King on 19B, Harish Mukherjee Road, Bhawanipur to get an authentic taste of this delicacy.
