Rains fuel appetite for barbeque fish

Customers throng restaurants to savour winter delicacy

ISLAMABAD:

Steady rainfall in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi has led to an increase in the demand for winter culinary delights, particularly barbeque fish.

Residents were seen thronging restaurants and roadside cafes on Friday to partake of the nutritious food.

Mujahid, a customer sampling the delicacy at a restaurant, declared that the menu of any eatery is considered incomplete without fish.

A slight shift in the choices of the residents of the twin cities has been witnessed this winter. "They are preferring barbeque fish over the traditionally fried fish or tawa-machi,” said a fish shop owner at Aabpara.

Momin Ali, an online food delivery service provider, said that almost every order he is receiving these days included fish items, especially during the rains.

He added that the restaurants of Karachi Company, Melody Market, Jinnah Super Market, Aabpara, Super Market, F-10, F-11, G-10 Markaz, Committee Chowk, Commercial Market, Raja Bazaar, Saddar, and Sadiqabad were crowded with clients clamouring for meals that included fish in one form or another.

"The fish varieties high in demand are Heera, Mushka, Surmai, Dawan, Rohu, silver pomfret, Dambra, Mahasher, Thela, Salmon, and Common Carp, but now the customers are asking to get their fish cooked on coals instead of getting it deep fried," confided the manager of Al-Mustafa Mahigeer, Saddar.

Arslan Akhtar, a 45-year old foodie, said that he preferred to eat grilled fish as fried fish was unhealthy. "Grilled fish offers more healthy nutrients," he added.

When contacted, the management of Wajid Fish House, a popular eatery in Islamabad, said that the majority of their customers were demanding barbeque fish rather than its fried counterpart.

“We have even replaced our cooking oil,” said the manager. “Now we fry our fish in mustard oil to facilitate our health-conscious customers.”

Another chef of a famous fish point said that grilled and barbeque fish took more time to cook. “Though it’s time-consuming and makes it hard for us to manage rush hours, we have to cater to the customers’ demands,” he said. "We have installed a new setup for barbeque fish due to its increasing popularity."

Sardar Iqbal, an Islamabad-based nutritionist, was of the view that grilled food was better than fried.

"Fish absorbs more fat when fried, which may increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke by increasing blood cholesterol level in human body," said Iqbal. "On the other hand, grilled fish has lower calories and more nutritional value, helping decrease bad cholesterol levels and keeping humans safe from obesity, heart disease, hypertension, type-2 diabetes, and stroke."

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2022.