Reveries

    Not A Very Fishy Fare: A Peek Into ABP Ananda’s Ilish Fish Festival

On Saturday (8th August), the street next to the E.E.D.F grounds in Jodhpur Park was choker blocked.Cars let off passengers in the middle of the street. The resultant traffic jam led to incessant honking from irritated car and rickshaw drivers. Pedestrians brazenly walked through the chaos and onto the adjacent footpath. There, the semblance of a queue at a makeshift ticket counter jostled with the throng pouring in and out of two narrow gates. Welcome to "Ilishiash" - the Ilish Fish Festival, organized by the ABP Ananda news channel. After buying two tickets for Rs. 20, each, my friend and I wrestled our way in. Thankfully, the sprawling Taltala Math offered enough space for the crowd to thin out. Rows of yellow huts lined the three sides of the venue. Visitors strolled along a wooden walkway covered in green felt, browsing through the various stalls. The air was heavy with flavours of fresh Ilish and that familiar mustard sauce. Almost on cue a volunteer offered us a free packet of Pincon mustard oil, directing our attention to the first stall. On display were all the spices and oils one needs to cook this famed fish.

Line of stalls at "Ilishiash"

However, we stalled our exploration a while to check out the inauguration ceremony that began on a makeshift stage in the middle of the field. ABP Ananda's executive editor, Suman Dey, opened the festival with a few wisecracks about the Bengalis' passion for this fish. Welcoming everyone at the "delishiush" (read delicious) "Ilishiash" (Ilish festival), Suman singed off with a quip: "A longer speech would be as annoying as an Ilish bone stuck in the throat". A bunch of yellow and blue balloons were released into the air and we set off on our stall hopping.

Quite a few renowned restaurants had set up shop. We spotted 6, Ballygunj Place, Fish Fish, Sholoana Bangaliana and Khawab, among others. One stall was particularly eye-catching. It was called Bhooter Raja Dilo Bar. A pot-bellied fellow with giant ears, jagged teeth and black paint all over his body, posed as "Bhooter Raja". However, Satyajit Ray's iconic king of ghosts would have been ashamed of the meagre fare offered by his duplicate. Ilish Bhapa, Ilish er Paturi and a few other familiar recipes were all that the ghostly king could manage.

Raw Ilish @ Rs.1000- Rs.2000/kg

Baked ilish in a bowl of rice

In fact, it was a similar story in most of the stores. Shorshe Ilish and Paturi wrapped in banana or kochu leaves abounded. The baked Ilish at one stall wasn't a filleted Ilish with a continental twist. It was merely Shorshe Ilish with a fancy name. The salesman urged us to get a combo meal. It turned out to be a big bowl of white rice with a single piece of the so-called baked Ilish and a teeny-weeny baked rasgulla. The price of this “lavish” combo? Rs. 250! 6, Ballygunj Place priced the same item at Rs. 490. Needless to say, this festival was not very friendly to the pocket. Raw, whole Ilish was equally expensive, ranging between Rs 1000 and Rs 2000 per kilo.

Familiar Ilish recipes

Ilish er Biriyani

Nevertheless, there were a few innovative items on offer. Among them were Ilish er Polao, Ilish er Biriyani, Ilish er Cutlet and Ilish er Dim Bhaja. The Ilish Biriyani at Sanjha Chulha, priced at Rs. 180, wasn’t very impressive. A six-inch-long whole ilish sat atop a decent portion of yellowish orange rice. The biriyani was fairly tasty, but the fish tasted nothing like ilish. The annoying bones were the only indicator that it is probably a baby ilish. Though small in size and priced at Rs. 100 each, Fish Fish’s Ilish er cutlet was quite a tasty twist to the familiar chicken or mutton cutlet.

Ilish er cutlet - ready to be fried (Top row)

In fact, many stalls at this fish festival offered more of chicken and mutton dishes than ilish. And the meat dishes were friendly to the pocket as well. There were several renowned sweet shops too. So if one was disappointed with the fish, one could stick to familiar fare.

But if the crowd at the eating area was any indication, Bengalis did not mind the price, the shortage of innovative dishes or the scorching summer heat. People were getting their palms all dirty, digging into bowls of rice, their favourite Ilish, chicken, mutton and even sweets. Others were enjoying a chit-chat and some impromptu jig with ABP Ananda’s emcee. We also spotted a few t.v. celebrities.

In a way Suman De was right in his inaugural speech. For the Bengalis there is no greater breaking news than that the season’s first catch of Ilish has docked at the Hoogly port. “Ilishiash” did not turn out to be that much of a fishy affair. But it definitely celebrated Bengalis’ passion for a lazy afternoon of food and entertainment in any form.