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Bengal has always played the pioneering role in the domain
of sweets and confectioneries. The name of ancient
'Gauda'
bears testimony to our abundant skill in this field,
especially in the use of 'Guda' i.e. molasses or
treacle. In the days of yore, Bengal became very famous
for yielding the white substance, which came out as a medley
of sugar or treacle being specially treated with moss on
a plank. Its popularity was far-flung – even to the remote
areas in India. 'Nalen Guda' or newly made treacle from
date juice is also an exclusive product of Bengal.
H owever, Bengal has virtually conquered the world by dint
of a unique delicacy, which has been reigning supreme in
the world of sweetmeats from the hoary antiquity. That dream
substance is posset or casein, popularly known in Bengal
as 'Chhana'. It comes to being by lacerating milk and hence
called as 'Chhana'. It might have other connotation as well.
To filtrate something with a piece of cloth or compress
it is also called 'Chhana' in Bengali. The round mass of
posset has also got to be filtrated properly. Again, it
is essential to compress it in order to rinse the water,
before rendering any shape or mix with sugar or treacle.
Now, the moot question is why has casein never acquired
its due status outside Bengal? The feasible
reason is that lacerated milk is  not regarded as potable and considered
as insalubrious. Moreover, no individual outside Bengal
would ever lacerate milk into 'Chhana' like the Bengalis as it was considered a sinful act. However, the Bengali
confectioner had no such prejudice and he went on experimenting
with posset. So, while the rest of India was dabbling with
dry sweets like 'Laddu' made from pulses or getting overwhelmed
with a mere 'Kalakand' prepared by amalgamating thickened
milk or 'Ksheer' with sugar or treacle, the Bengali government
had already got a taste of the unique 'Sandesh' and exploring
further for newer preparations from casein.
'Chhana' or casein in all probabilities, might have been born
out of exasperation. The c owherds or
dairymen could not
sell their milk on several occasions. Consequently, the
unsold milk had to be thrown away which was sheer wastage.
Although 'Ksheer' (thickened milk), 'Ghole' (whey) and 'Nani'
(butter) were always made, but large quantities of milk once spoilt,
would come to no use and was a colossal
wastage. So the Bengali dairymen pondered on it seriously
and hit upon the idea of making posset from the 'spoilt'
milk. Their next step forward was the making of 'Sandesh',
a mouth-watering dry sweetmeat from posset or casein treated
or blended nicely with sugar or molasses along with other
ingredients at times. The better the 'Chhana', the tastier
is the 'Sande sh'. They
are available in different flavours and aromas.
But the Bengali confectioner was not satisfied and wanted
to make something unique and revolutionary, which would
immortalize Bengal in the estimation of the connoisseurs
of food all over the world. This creative urge, mingled
with ages of skill and knowledge gave birth to 'Rosogolla',
a sweetmeat of incomparable delicacy in the year 1868,
in a shanty at Bagbazar. Today, 'Rosogolla'
has virtually conquered the world at large. Nabin Chandra
Das, an indigent Bengali youth in his early twenties, has
become a legend for discovering this quintessential sweetmeat.
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