Bangladeshi Food

    Eating in Bangladesh is an exciting and rich experience. Food in Bangladesh has many different styles with thousands of great restaurants in all the major cities and towns of Bangladesh. All of them seem to boast about one chef or another, which is good, but for most of us we want to get down to eating.

In addition, food in Dhaka and other Bangladeshi tourist resorts is not restricted to traditional Bangladeshi delights. Cuisine from all over the world can be found in Bangladesh, including Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern, and other international tastes. Fast food chains are rising in popularity due to convenience and their family oriented style.

Bangladeshi cuisine refers to the Bengali cuisine prevalent in Bangladesh. Bangladesh was the eastern part of Bengal before the Partition of India. The Bangladeshi cuisine incorporates many Persian-Arabic elements and the usage of beef greatly sets it apart from the cuisine in West Bengal in India. It also has considerable regional variations. A staple across the country however is rice, various kinds of lentil, which is locally known as dal (sometimes written as daal) & fish. As a large percentage of the land (over 80% on some occasions) can be under water, either intentionally because of farming practices or due to severe climatological, topographical or geographical conditions, not surprisingly fish features as a major source of protein in the Bangladeshi diet. There is also a saying which goes, "Machh-e-Bhat-e-Bangali" (Fish and rice make a Bengali).

An integral part of Bangladeshi cuisine is beef, the presence of which is a must especially in feasts and banquets. Beef kebab is immensely popular throughout the country. Beef is used in the preparation of a wide range of dishes including biryani, tehari, haleem, and many others. Regional feasts such as the Mezbaan of Chittagong, the Ziafat of Sylhet/Comilla or the Dawat of Dhaka will remain incomplete without serving spicy beef.