Rohini Bhowmick
Home chef and owner, Spices and Friends, loves rohu “Bengalis swear by their fish,” says Rohini Bhowmick. Two years ago, she started a catering service called Spices and Friends out of her home in Mumbai, and her offerings are inspired by the food she grew up eating in her Bengali home. “Bengalis don’t have sea fish as much as we have river fish,” she points out. Freshwater fishes like rohu, catla, and hilsa (or ilish) make up a lot of the diet, often finding their way into every meal. She explains how fish forms a part of every auspicious occasion in a Bengali household. There’s even a Bengali wedding tradition that involves a huge rohu being dressed up as a bride and sent over to the groom’s house. She recalls the time she lived in Kolkata as a child and witnessed young men being fed a plate of rice and fish by their mothers and wives before setting off for work, which left her puzzled and appalled at the time. But she gets it now — it’s a good breakfast. It’s not heavy but it keeps you going through the day.
Harsha Tapke
Home chef and co-founder, Koli Seafood Festival, loves pomfret The indigenous Kolis are Mumbai’s earliest inhabitants, and have lived along the city’s coast for over 500 years, making their living from the sea. This fishing community is among those heavily impacted by the lockdown as not only their source of livelihood, but also their staple diet, has been disrupted. Harsha Tapke is a Koli fisherwoman from Versova in Andheri, Mumbai. Over the years, she has grown as an entrepreneur and home chef. She hosts dinners at her house as part of the Dine with Kolis experience offered by Authenticook, a platform that spotlights regional fare by home chefs, and she co-founded the annual Koli Seafood Festival in 2005, which takes place in Versova.
Basheer Thottayil
Owner, Taste of Kerala, loves pomfret 26 years ago, Basheer Thottayil migrated to Mumbai from Calicut, a coastal city in northern Kerala. He started out working at Deluxe, a premier restaurant in Fort, Mumbai, known for its Malayali food. 11 years ago, he set up Taste of Kerala, a much-loved haunt for Malayali food, also in Fort. When asked why fish is important for Malayalis, he says, “Whether you have 101 other dishes or nothing else, if you have a bit of fish curry, a piece of fish and some rice, a Mallu generally attains bliss.” He loves all his fishes — sardines, mackerels and so on — but pomfret, of any kind, is special [there’s the black pomfret (called halva in Maharashtra), and the white pomfret]. He loves it regardless of the preparation too, but he leans more towards it in a curry as opposed to fried.