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“From my childhood, I have been seeing my father arranging mezban, a feast for the guests. It is our family tradition. I hope our future generation will not break with this,” said Arif Ahmed, who owns Youth Tech BD, an online gadget business.
Mezban is a beef-dominated feast, which people in Chattogram have been arranging for hundreds of years. It is a must either for observing a funeral ritual or for arranging a family or social function. This dish, popularly known as ‘mejbani’, came out of its locality and found national appeal quite a long time ago.
In recent times, mezban is being organised during nationally significant occasions, for instance, on 15th August, the National Mourning Day, in Tungipara, Gopalganj, remembering the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Mezban has even crossed the national border with its unique taste and appetising aroma as it can be found in Bengali restaurants of Australia and the US. It is such a food that makes it to the most favourite list of whoever happens to taste it and remains so forever. And this is the case with Ahsan Abid, a third year student of banking and economics at International Islamic University Chittagong. “I was born and grew up in Feni, but when I came to Chattogram on study, I had the opportunity to taste this food. And since then there is no stopping.”
“I had the opportunity of taking the mezbani meal on my very first visit to Chattogram,” said Dhaka resident Fariha Khan, “I ordered it reluctantly as my friends from Chattogram highly recommended it. Since then, I’ve been recommending this item to my friends or family -- whoever goes to Chattogram.”
Assumedly, mezban was first introduced in Bangladesh in the 18th century through Iranian and Arabian merchants, and then it gradually gained popularity, especially in the greater Chattogram. Two identical words ‘Mejwan’ and ‘Mejmani’ can be found in 15th and 16th century manuscripts. Historians think that the term mezban could possibly derive from those.
Raisa Khanam, a third year student of economics at Hazera-Taju University College, Chattogram, shared with joy how her family has been socialising by arranging mezban on various occasions. She considers mezban a part of their identity now. “Every year my family and relatives arrange mezban together. We wait for this occasion with great interest because it makes our social bonding stronger.”
There are some specific menus in mezbani foods -- rice, beef, dal, salad. Sometimes chicken, vegetables, etc. are also included in this list. The local chefs are assigned to cook the foods where the cooking procedure is slightly different from the traditional way of cooking beef, which is the main attraction among others. There are some masala packets available in the market which are specially used to cook mezbani beef which makes its taste unique. The ‘bhuna dal’ is another attraction of mezbani foods. Some families add some extra items like chicken, kebab, vegetables, etc. where these items are also spicy and tasty.
Interestingly, the sale of cow meat is higher in Chattogram compared to any other district, which is presumably due to the frequency of occasions with mezbani meal. There is also an interesting statistic popular among local residents that most of the people who go to India for heart disease treatment are from Chattogram as they eat too much beef!
“We get excellent responses from our customers which inspire us to continue our business. During public holidays, the number of our customers almost doubles. As we have been providing food with the best taste and hygiene, we are running on profit,” remarked Ningpru Marma, the branch in-charge of ‘Mejjan Haile Aiun’ restaurant.
On the other hand, Mohammad Salauddin, the owner of Daily Mejjan restaurant, said the mezban sellers in Chattogram always pledge to uphold the quality of mezban as it is a heritage of Chattogram. “We try our best to provide quality foods to our customers at an affordable price and the customer reviews are also good about our services.”
Apart from the posh restaurants, there are numerous local hotels/eateries in Chattogram city that arranges mezban weekly. Although mezban can be found in other parts of the country, one must go to Chattogram for the original and authentic taste of this ever-praised food.
Tanjim Hasan Patwary is a third year student of banking and insurance at Chittagong University.