Most Bengali’s worth their salt will sing you paeans about their love of hilsa, or ilish as we call it. That love has been pretty detrimental for the fish though, as we have gone through populations of the fish, leaving it endangered as a species! Sadly, most Bengalis still do not acknowledge of that problem, or even if they do, they refuse to adhere to principles of conservation. Bangladesh, in this, has done a way better job than us.
The taste of ilish depends on three things – the season, it’s stage of life and finally the quality of water. Hence, ilish can be very well graded by rivers/bays from which they are caught. Key to conserving is to ensure that we eat fewer numbers and do not catch the ones that are adolescent and are below a kilogram in weight. I have started buying just one fish every year and I make sure I make it count. This year, it was a 1.6 kilogram, sparkling silver beauty.
As a ritual the first few pieces went into a light jhol with pumpkin, and into a making a steamed ilish with mustard. Today, it was something which is very special to me and also rare. It is an anarosh ilish or hilsa cooked with pineapples. It is a Sylheti speciality. Sylhet uses a lot of pineapple and citruses in it’s food, and in most creative ways owing to its topography. Here is a family recipe which is spicy, sweet and sour nestled a heavenly, fatty, buttery piece of ilish.
Happy Monsoons!
