Fish, Oh Fish! Are you willing to give up your preferences for a healthy future? At 99% of the restaurants around Pakistan, the fish that we are being sold under the tag of simply “fish” or often “salmon” is actually the infamous Pangasius a.k.a Basa/Alaska/Bangash/Catfish! While I’m not at all surprised at why it has become one of the most preferred fish in Pakistan, it has the texture of a decent fish fillet minus the fishy smell, and it’s cheap. It is equally important to realize that what we are consuming is not the best diet, rather it is an invitation to the worst type of diseases due to injected hormones, presence of deadly metals such as mercury and bizarre feeds. It’s not just the restaurateurs who are to be blamed for sourcing this cheap fish (fillet sold at on average Rs. 300/kg) and selling it under the tag of “fish”, “salmon” and “snapper”. Patrons are to be equally blamed for making its import a success story as we generally tend to refrain from the healthy sea water fish that contains the natural fishy smell. I have been through countless first-hand experiences during my career in the hospitality industry where a patron ordered “salmon” and when it was served, he/she refused to consume it for its natural fishy smell and ended up comparing it with the so-called “salmon” that is being served at an XYZ restaurant at a cheaper price and “odor free”! A couple of years ago a patron sent the portion of freshly sourced pan seared sea water salmon back to the kitchen for its fishy smell and upon enquiring about what exactly what wrong with it, he claimed that he has been consuming salmon for a long time and he could easily tell that the fish was stale. The chef, as a replacement to the so-called “stale” salmon, pan seared a fillet of Pangasius and sent it back to the “connoisseur of salmon” and voila, he told me that “This is what a fresh salmon taste like!”. It’s high time that we stop consuming this low grade fish and give mileage to our local sea water and fresh water fish that is being bred in comparatively better conditions.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 13:49:39 +0000
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