Nalin Chandra Das And Sons

"The 19th century in Bengal was a time of extraordinary change. Termed as the Bengal Renaissance, this period was characterized by an awakening in the fields of art, culture, science, intellect, and society. It was also in the 19th century, that Calcutta witnessed the establishment and growth of sweet shops. Many of the moiras who set up shops came to the city from places like Bardhaman including the ancestors of Tapan Das, current owner of Nalin Chandra Das & Sons, one of the oldest sweet shops in the city. If you think that flavored Sandesh is a recent innovation, you are very wrong. Nalin Chandra Das can be credited for the introduction of flavors in Sandesh creating chocolate sandesh way back in 1900. The story goes that, Bishwajit Ghosh, a scion of one of the bonedi or aristrocratic families asked the then owner, Bhoot Nath Das, to create a new type of sandesh using cocoa powder that he had brought from England. Bhootnath came up with the chocolate sandesh which proved to be an instant hit. Chocolate Sandesh is still one of Nalin’s highest selling mishtis."