Sweet memories: Exploring Bengali flavours in the East End

Ramadan and Eid are busy times for East London’s Bengali sweet sellers, but traditional Misthi counters remain a huge part of Bengali culture and economy year round.

In Whitechapel, opposite the busy market trade of fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, and clothing, a generous row of small sweets shops sits under the railway arches. Vendors present golden trays of fried and syrup-drenched Jelabi and glass cabinets are filled with neatly cut squares of Barfi, and dense balls of sweet, cold Cham Cham.

Mr Sweet and Raj Mahal, owned by Faysol Ahmed and sold by his wife Fajana Rahi, have been selling Misthti in Whitechapel for around a decade. Mishti is the Bengali term for sweets, while Mithai is the Hindi spelling of the same word. 

As well as their ‘famous’ tea, customers flock for sweets like Kala Jamun, a crispy ball of milk solids characterised by its black exterior and soft and juicy inside, typically soaked in syrup and flavoured with Cardamom and Rose water. 

Next door at family-run business, Modhubon Sweets, bright green pistachio barfi is a winner, another milk-based sweet with a fudge-like consistency. 

Many Misthi are garam-flour-based, often drenched in syrup, and others are milk-based with a sweet, creamy texture. While a lot of sweets are shared across Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, they vary greatly country to country and region to region. 

Stores also sell Halwa, closer to a pudding-like treat, with comforting dishes such as Kheer made from rice, milk, and sugar, cardamom and garnished with nuts. Yoghurt is also a common part of South Asian sweet cuisine, with regional differences in flavour and served plain, sweetened or with fruit and spices. 

Across the East End, customers of all ages visit to stock up on sweets to bring to relatives and friends’ houses or ahead of hosting loved ones, with sweets also bought for special occasions like weddings and religious holidays. 

Whilst second-generation Bengali businesses are seeing a trend towards cafes and sit-down dessert shops, the custom of bringing sweets to loved ones means that traditional sweet counters continue to thrive in the East End.

Laisul Hoque is a Leyton-based artist and recently won the East London Art Prize for his tribute to Bengali sweets – ‘An Ode to All the Flavours’.

Hoque’s artwork, on display at Nunnery Gallery, recreates traditional sodium-lit Bengali sweet counters with a mix of Jhuri (fried gram flour flakes seasoned in spices) and Boondi (small balls of fried chickpea flour soaked in sugar syrup) for visitors to sample. 

The sweets in the exhibition were made by Oitij-jo Kitchen. Oitij-jo work with British Bangladeshi women from east London to make and serve traditional Bengali street food with clients including Richmix Cinema and the Museum of the Home.

‘We focus on foods Bangladeshi people would eat at home, says founder, Maher Anjum.

Whilst Bengali sweet shops are home to flavours authentic to the Bengal region of south Asia, Anjum notes that much South Asian food in the borough is largely Westernised.

Despite the majority being Bengali-owned, Brick Lane’s famed curry houses are largely marketed as ‘Indian’ which Anjum says is due to a greater knowledge and acceptance of India in Britain and a history of racial abuse surrounding Bengali migration in the 70s.

‘Bengali sweet shops can exist in places apart from their original context and not try to market themselves to an outside audience in the UK’ says Hoque. ‘The sheer demand means [sweet shops] don’t need to seek a wider audience.

‘During massive celebrations, all sweet shops run out of stock. They’ll ask, “How many sweets do you want?” And get the reply, “As many as possible” says Hoque.

Speaking of his exhibition, Hoque describes how his work was intentionally cornered from the rest of the gallery space, with the soft yellow light of the cabinet inviting curiosity about the sweets which were his father’s favourite childhood snack.

‘There are so many hidden things in London and my work is a call out so that next time you walk past a [sweet shop], it’s a bit more visible than it was before,’ says Hoque.

‘Food is part of the creative sector. It’s not just about sitting down and filling your belly, it’s an opportunity for dialogue and engagement,’ says Anjum.

‘Seeing the sweets [at Laisul’s] exhibition encourages inquiry – What is it? Who made it?’

With the beginning of Ramadan and the Eid celebrations just around the corner, it is a big time for East London sweet sellers with crowds flocking to buy sweets to be enjoyed after Iftar meals. At stores like Mr Sweet, bespoke bouquets of Misthi are sold for special occasions and special days. 

Sweet shops remain a huge part of Bengali culture and economy in the East End as well as a place to sample the authentic flavours of hospitality, nostalgia and celebration. As Anjum puts it, ‘sweets make the world go round’. 

If you liked this read How the curry house generation have paved the way for second-generation British-Bangladeshis to create a ‘new-wave’ Bengali cuisine.