Consignments of fresh hilsa , flown in from Myanmar, have taken fish-loving Kolkatans by a rather pleasant - if unseasonal - surprise. Fresh varieties of the much sought-after fish is usually sold in markets between July and October, rarely in November. Frozen hilsa, though, is available round the year.
"We are getting four to six tonnes of hilsa per week from Myanmar," said Syed Anwar Maqsood, secretary, Fish Importers' Association, a fact confirmed by airport cargo officials. "These consignments are arriving by air. Hence, they are fresh fish, unlike the frozen ones that come by sea.
" A section of connoisseurs, who have had the latest hilsa, said they tasted better than the variety that was imported from Bangladesh before Durga Puja. This is surprising, for gourmets have always viewed hilsa from the Irrawaddy delta with scepticism, considering its taste inferior to the catch from the Ganga in Bengal or Padma and Meghna in Bangladesh. And, given the price advantage of Myanmar hilsa over its Bangladeshi counterpart, it is turning out to be a more attractive proposition, overall.
The hilsa catch in Myanmar is about 15% to 20% of the global hilsa catch, second only to Bangladesh's, which accounts for 60%. Myanmar hilsa flown to Kolkata is wholesaling for Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,400 per kilo for sizes ranging from 1kg to 1.2kg and Rs 1,500 per kilo for sizes between 1.
3kg and 1.5kg..
