It’s a fishy business

One of the most accomplished moments in my 23-year-old culinary career, not surprisingly, has to do with fish. I still remember it like yesterday, we were in class at culinary college and were, of course, filleting fish.

Not really the coolest job, but a very important one, nevertheless. The precision of getting the meat out and making sure that there is less wastage of meat on the skin is quite the task, and I excelled at it. Imagine the joy!

If I was a winner at filleting fish, I also had a bad moment with fish. I was grilling the meat one day and fish being as delicate as it is, tends to get overcooked if left on heat for even a minute longer. And that is what happened. I overcooked the fish and the chef in charge promptly sent it back to me. I learnt it the hard way and I live by this, cooking fish is an art. An art that not many go on to master. Growing up in a Brahmin household, meat was not what we cooked or ate, so meat would’ve been something shocking to me, had it not been for my background in science. Years of dissecting had prepared me for the greater task that lay ahead. Also, like many other families, my parents wanted me to become a doctor, they dreamt of seeing me in a white coat and I did fulfill that wish of theirs, with a twist.

Somehow, the ‘art of science’ stayed with me. The science is in understanding the ingredients and the art is using the said ingredients, and the same extends to fish as well. Fish in its very essence is a simple meat, yet cooking it is an arduous task. A little too much heat and you risk over-cooking it, a little less heat and it is undercooked, there is a fine line that you must walk. Despite the difficult task, I have met a few chefs who have managed to make cooking fish look easy. A few of them don’t even look at the meat, they check their watch and at the exact moment take it off the heat. The result? The perfect piece of fish.

Each fish has a different meat structure. And that is also one reason why some fish can be grilled and some only used in curries. Take for example the Murrel, one of the most popular fish, and since the meat is sturdy, it can be grilled or even made into a tikka.

Even the time to cook fish depends on so many factors, the kind of meat, the thickness of the fish... there can never be a golden rule to cook fish. So much that there is also a course abroad on how to handle fish.

Ever since the first time I set foot in the kitchen — at the young age of 11— I’ve heard many myths associated with food. Fish and myths too, I find, go hand in hand. Science has busted many such myths, but one that I have heard over the years is about mixing fish and curd or milk. Personally, I don’t believe in that. Though I have seen people suffer from dangerous allergies, something they didn’t know they suffered from, until they actually ate fish.

That happens… seafood can cause a lot of deadly allergies. However, there are a few ideas that have been proven true. People believe that you’re not supposed to eat fish in certain months. There are a few myths associated with it, but the truth is, this is done during the period when fish reproduce. The government itself has an annual ban period, during which fishermen are not supposed to fish, yet another myth busted, thanks to science! All this talk of fish can certainly make anyone hungry and if you’re looking for a simple, delicious boneless recipe of fish, take a look above.

Chapa Vepudu

Ingredients
900 gm Murrel
boneless fillets
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
5 tbsp tamarind pulp
3 tbsp chilli powder
½ turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Oil enough to shallow fry
 
Marination

Clean the fish, wash with water and pat dry.
Apply turmeric powder, half tamarind pulp, salt and leave for half an hour.

Method

Make a thick marinade of ginger and garlic paste, chilli powder, remaining tamarind pulp, adjust the seasoning, smear this mixture on the fish, let it rest for half an hour. Gently place the fish and shallow fry on a griddle till done. Serve hot.