Cross-country treat

May 14: Here is some good news for the fish lovers craving for gourmet delight with sea fish items at home.

Sea fish straight from Goa and Mumbai will hit the city markets tomorrow, offering you options to taste the sumptuous garlic sardine or the rita soup.

An air-conditioned container full of sea fish varieties from Goa is on its way to the Paltan Bazar wholesale fish market, the biggest in the Northeast.

“Earlier, we used to bring sardines and few other varieties from Calcutta market in small quantities and sell here. But people always complain about the quality, as they are not fully frozen and the quality deteriorates during transportation. So, this time we are bringing the three varieties straight from Goa and Mumbai in fully frozen containers. From tomorrow or day after, consumers here will be able to buy these sea fish varieties,” Dhruba Deka, president of the market, today told The Telegraph.

The fish items are being transported in the container at minus 40 degrees Centigrade and will be open for sale to retailers for around Rs 60 to Rs 70 per kg. The container will transport about 10 tonnes of sea fish in three varieties — sardine, rita and tedi.

“These are wholesale prices and people will have to pay a little more to buy from retail markets. Retail fish traders from across the state and parts of the region come and buy fish from our market everyday,” Deka said.

“We are bringing three items initially, as demand for these items are high at present. Based on the response and demand of the retailers and consumers, we will try to bring in more varieties,” he said.

Everyday at least 15-18 truckloads of fish, each containing 10 tonnes, enter the wholesale market from Kanpur, Andhra Pradesh and Calcutta and the retailers and small wholesalers from across Assam and other parts of the region collect them for sale in their respective places.

According to the traders, the demand for sea fish is growing particularly among consumers in Guwahati and Shillong with many new restaurants and hotels offering sea fish recipes.

“Sea fish is finding acceptance among customers here and many restaurants and dhabas look for good quality sea fish. Multiple restaurants and hotels nowadays are organising seafood festivals to attract more customers and offer seafood options on their plates,” Deka said.

Sea fish is an important source of protein, and hotels and restaurants offer several seafood items.

“I am fond of sea fish and enjoyed them when I studied in Delhi. I would love to buy some sardine as soon as they reach Guwahati and will try the garlic sardine item at home,” Sagarika Sarma, a private company employee at Panbazar, said.