Food faux pas

The finance minister's lunch with media editors is rarely expected to yield a feast of news so those who are invited look forward to a feast of Bengali food instead. This year, too, the usual sumptuous spread was on offer, yet the gourmands came away disappointed. Their grouse: the much-anticipated hilsa fish curry was served not with plain rice, which is supposed to enhance the delicate flavour of the fish, but with a wholly inappropriate biryani. That might just be the Bengali equivalent of, say, the culinary faux pas of serving red wine with fish.