What’s Eaten Where: The Sundarbans

Never heard of the Sundarbans? Not surprising! This vast mangrove forest is hardly the Bangladeshi Brighton. In fact, it’s a place even the locals fear to live… Almost 10,000 square kilometres in area, the Sundarbans are located on the world’s largest delta, the meeting place of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. Here, should you be so bold as to venture into the largely uncharted and ever-changing waters, you’ll need to watch out for the Bengal tigers, the estuarine crocodile, and the Indian python! But it’s not the fauna that’s the biggest killer. The four million locals are most at risk from climate change.

Hilsa has always been the staple food; a type of herring that appears in many a dish. But climate change, water pollution and overfishing have led to declining populations. Nevertheless, hilsa remains a favourite, and it is prepared as a curry (known locally as ilish maach) or marinated in a mix of mustard, spices, coconut and yoghurt before steamed in a tiffin box to produce bhapa ilish.

Spices are a big feature of the local cuisine, and coupled with seafood, create a host of wonderful dishes such as chingri maacher malaikari. Made with either giant freshwater prawns or tiger prawns, this dish includes a creamy coconut gravy flavoured with cinnamon and green cardamom.

However, it’s not all seafood. The Sundarbans region has always been about small-scale farming. But as available land decreases, so too does yield. These days monsoons recede later, winters are shorter, and rains are harder, meaning farmers are unable to raise more than one crop per year.

That crop is often rice, a good accompaniment to all sorts of local dishes, including kosha mangsho, a dry, slow-cooked, dark brown chicken or mutton curry.

Honey from the giant honey bee has long been a traditional local food source. But as the golden nectar has become globally prized, increasing numbers of residents are risking their lives to make $80 per season from the sale. To us, that may seem a paltry amount. But in the Sundarbans, even the smallest amount can mean the difference between life and death.