Kolkata, Jun 17 (IANS): Providing a sneak peek into the world of Bengali cuisine, various recipes and regionwise information of food available in the state, the West Bengal tourism department has created a website to tug at the gastronomical strings of visitors.

The site http://bengalcuisine.in/ is a powerhouse of information on the history, cuisines, food festivals, eating joints and famous sharbat junctions.

A very useful section is the one on the mouth-watering recipes of fish, mutton, chicken, vegetarian items as also those of popular local snacks and Bengal's famous sweets like rosogolla and rosomalai and other desserts.

The "history" section provides a capsule on the large number of influences which has shaped Bengal's culinary tastes including those by the Turkic rulers from the early 13th century onwards, the British (1757-1947), as also those of Jewish bakeries, Marwari sweet-makers, the chinese restaurateurs and the different flavours of Mughal cuisine introduced by the exiled families of Wajid Ali Shah and Tipu Sultan.

The section also provides details about the ingredients, cooking styles, fruits and old Calcutta (now Kolkata) hotels.

Tourism Minister Bratya Basu hoped the website will bring Bengali cuisine on the international culinary map.