Fish handling should be minimum to improve shelf life
Anirudh Tendulkar
Drawing on 25 years of hands-on experience at a seafood speciality restaurant in Goregaon (suburban Mumbai), from selecting fresh catch at fish markets to serving regular or innovative dishes for customers at Matsyagandha, Anirudh Tendulkar stresses upon the value of minimal storage time, use of natural preservatives, cleaning seafood vigorously, and keeping the kitchen spotless as a daily ritual. Nandakumar Marar, Consulting Editor, Clean India Journal, gets a hands-on experience right from the catch to the plate.
Inspiration and knowhow came from his mother Archana Arvind Tendulkar, a fantastic cook whose guidance developed the awareness to pick out fresh stuff from the catch and an interest in cooking for people. He managed solo from 2001 onwards. His wife, Aarti Tendulkar, teamed up 15 years ago, as a diversion after the children got employed and no one at home during the daytime needed to be looked after.
Hygiene at each step is a necessity due to regulations. “The kitchen has to be as clean as possible,” is the instruction to us from the authorities, the FSSAI in particular, as per rules in force. “Testing is done by FSSAI for the water and seafood. Officials from the department land up at the restaurant for inspection, to collect samples of water, fish, and food used in the kitchen, at their discretion. These samples are taken to the lab. In case the tests reveal any contamination, or any seafood is found to be stale or stinking, the licence can be cancelled,” he explained.
“I do not store fish for this very reason. The customer gets menu items made from fresh fish, so I do not need to worry about FSSAI action.” Mandatory rules state the food licence needs to be renewed each year, via an online procedure.
Tendulkar explains the role of Indian Hotels & Restaurant Association (AHAR) in easing the path for restaurant owners, catering to different specialities. “AHAR conducts training sessions for restaurants, where cleanliness in the kitchen and hygiene of staff is explained. Our staff undergoes a total check-up once a year. The association’s lab collects pathology samples from the kitchen staff at Matsyagandha and later forward their reports to us. This is done at all restaurants associated with the association, who help us to procure the food licence, and help us in case any restaurant owner is facing harassment from any official.
“The legal team engages in taking up court cases for member restaurant owners. For administrative purposes, Mumbai is divided into 10 zones, each has 10 members chosen as office-bearers with whom we get in touch.”
FSSAI and AHAR are useful allies in managing a restaurant when remaining on the right side of the law. The real task is to ensure fresh supplies of seafood, stick to time-tested routines learnt from experts like his mother in cleaning and cutting, and preserve the processed stuff using natural methods. Tendulkar’s thumb rule is to make sure customers get dishes as fresh as feasible.
“Fish handling should be minimum to improve shelf life,” he says, adding: “Seafood to be stored for use later should be cut, cleaned and marinated with turmeric and salt before storing, to improve shelf life. It is advisable to keep 50 per cent of the supply as it is, marinate the rest and use as and when the orders come. I prefer to keep stock for a maximum of two days; beyond that I avoid storing, to offer my customer the best.”
Fresh fish selection was learnt from actual demos, accompanying his mother as a kid to the market. “My guru was my mother. She showed me how to identify a mackerel (bangda) by holding it up by the tail. A straight mackerel is fresh, bent or to the side is to be avoided. King mackerels (surmai) are slippery to touch, gills of fresh salmon (ravas) and fresh halwa (black pomfret) are blood red. Pomfret should leak white water when the gills are pressed, freshly caught prawns are glossy, Bombay Duck (bombil), semi-transparent and glossy are fresh stock, while crabs with hard shells are to be preferred, ones with soft shells not worth the money. Clams with closed mouths are fresh catch.”
A wholesale fish market at Bhayandar (Thane district) is his preferred place, just outside the railway station. The restaurant owner states: “I went early morning 4.00 am daily to select seafood fresh off the boats, from 2003 to 2020 till the lockdown. Now it is delivered by a trusted fisherfolk contact. Fresh catch on sale that morning will be sent, based on a previous night phone call to list my requirements and what is available next morning. I still do the occasional Bhayandar trips, it is tougher from the energy levels viewpoint.
“Fish supplied in Mumbai to hotels usually has been caught two weeks before, unlike in Goa where the morning’s catch is delivered to kitchens by evening. These huge trawlers need four days in the ocean fishing spots to fill to capacity with the catch from the sea, the return journey is another four days, i.e. 10-12 days to reach the shore, two more days for the supplies to be delivered to the buyers.”
From June 1 to August 15, fishing is banned in coastal Maharashtra due to the breeding period. “Farm fish from Kolkata (Bengal), Chilka Lake (Odisha), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) reach Mumbai’s Crawford Market by railway during these months. The catch is distributed all over the city. Smaller in size and sold at higher rates, buyers have to manage with this as no other fresh food from the sea is available; no fishing happens in the Arabian Sea,” informs the seafood specialist, whose restaurant name means “smell of fish” (Matsyagandha) in Sanskrit. Talking about fish farming, Palghar and Dahanu (outside Mumbai city limits) have farms. “Pomfrets and prawns are farmed in salt water and sweet water.”
“Farms close to the ocean are chosen, sea water is drawn in, doors are attached to block and fish eggs lowered in. After the eggs hatch and reach a certain size, a net is put in place of the door so that fishes cannot escape and sea water flows in. The sweet-water cultivation is in man-made ponds for prawn harvesting in farmhouses. Porbandar port (in Gujarat) supplies the best quality and biggest sizes of seafood, especially lobsters.”
Tendulkar is very specific about cleaning, cutting, and preserving processes. “Scaly fishes are kept away from non-scaly ones, to prevent deterioration of the latter. Salt and turmeric application as soon as cutting is critical. Salt acts as an astringent and removes extra water, hardens it so shelf life is increased. Turmeric, used with salt, increases the shelf life of cut fish pieces.”
Seafood at the restaurant is stored for use without any chemical preservatives. There is clarity about methods as seafood bought from the market or delivered at the door arrives. “I handle the big fishes; my wife and staff handle the others. After cutting and washing using tap water, removing the blood spots, and intestines, salt and turmeric are applied before storage. With experience, these steps are easy to do, though necessary.”
Discussing the varieties in the market, he is of the view that pomfret, mackerel, and prawns are in demand here. Tastier varieties like herring, silver bar fish, and sardines (hilsa, karli, tarli) are sold in Mumbai markets. Goan fish Baramunda (local name Jitada), one of the oily types and tough to clean (hard scales scrubbed off with iron brushes), is valued. Customers are interested in fish thalis, and innovations are popular, especially items made in Malvani style. The Goan fish Chonnak is in demand as fried fish fillets.”
- Mumbai-based Anirudh Tendulkar runs a Malvani cuisine restaurant in Goregaon for 25 years now
- After working in Chiplin with a trust from 1990 to 2000, he returned to Mumbai and entered the food business by opening a local snack outlet to gain experience
- He converted his father’s dispensary into Matsyagandha in 2001
- He learnt the restaurant business, employee handling, and seafood management from Nagesh Pai, who mentored him for four years
- His wife joined the business 15 years ago
- Matsyagandha, a fish speciality restaurant that also serves vegetarian and non-vegetarian items, is open for lunch and dinner, besides offering private catering for groups and functions