Hilsa, prawn to entice foodies at Nalban Food Park

Kolkata: A wide variety of Hilsa and Prawn fishes available in Asia will be displayed and sold at a three -day Hilsa (Ilish), prawn (Chingri) Fair organised by the State Fisheries Development Corporation (SFDC) that kicks off at Nalban Food Park on Friday August 17.

The three-day fair will be inaugurated by state Fisheries minister Chandranath Sinha.

"The highlights of this year's Fair will be the display and sale of raw Hilsa and prawn of around eight varieties. We want to deliver the message that there may be geographical boundaries and differences in food habit but when it comes to savouring fishes, particularly Hilsa and prawn, we have a common liking. Bengal is known for its diversity, hence, we aim to focus on this aspect through this unique fish Fair," said Soumyajit Das, managing

director of SFDC.

Bengalis like to believe that the Hilsa worth eating is only found in River Padma or Ganges, but the herring is also found in the rivers of several countries, including Iraq and Iran in West Asia, and Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia in the East.

"Hilsa of Bay of Bengal, from river Brahmaputra in Assam, or from Oman in Arab and those from Myanmar, all have different looks and taste and are cooked in a different manner. For example in Myanmar, Hilsa which is mostly from the Irrawaddy, is not cooked in mustard oil. People will be able to see all these varieties and at the same time, savour dishes prepared from these fish varieties," a senior SFDC

official added.

In a similar manner, apart from the well-known prawn — venami and lobster, there will be eight varieties like dhulo chingri, Rock Lobster, Black

Tiger Prawn etc.

Apart from a variety of dishes of Hilsa and prawn cooked in Bengal, some popular fish cuisines, involving these two fishes from the neighbouring states and countries, will be made available to

satiate the taste buds of the

fish lovers.