Naimat Khan
KARACHI: As the winter season sets in, food enthusiasts in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi throng eateries selling fish and other seafood items to keep their bodies warm during the cold weather. Only this winter, Akmal Ferozi, a restaurant owner, introduced them with a kiln-baked fish that has claimed a prominent spot in the city’s vast culinary scene.
Located near the Karachi airport, ‘Ferozi Fish and Food’ is all about various varieties of fish and other seafood items. Opened in August last year, the eatery has grabbed the attention of food enthusiasts by tantalizing their tastebuds with the unique delicacy.
“We have baked it in the kiln. It has a very good and unique taste… it’s juicy, it’s smoky,” Ferozi, 48, told Arab News, catering to a large number of customers over the weekend.
“Currently, wherever people are seated with us, there will be kiln [baked fish] on every table.”
Since his childhood, Ferozi said, he had only seen fried fish or grilled fish being sold everywhere, which led him to experiment with some innovation of his own.
While he introduced the ‘Dry Fruit Fish Handi,’ ‘Tawa Lemon Butter Fish’ and trout fish from Pakistan’s scenic northwestern Swat city, it was only a stroke of luck that led the 48-year-old restauranteur to Naik Shah, a Pakistani expat who built kilns in Saudi Arabia for 10 years.
“We have seen many things on Arab channels, on YouTube, etc, on Google. They cook meat, prepare whole goat, a whole camel in the kiln. We have seen this on channels,” Ferozi said, adding that Shah designed one for his restaurant too.
After the fish is cut and cleaned, the restaurant’s chef Farasat Ali takes the charge and demonstrates his exceptional seasoning and baking skills at precise temperatures.
“We season it with spices, and with it, we also make vegetable serving, which contains tomatoes, green chilies, and bell peppers are also added,” Ali told Arab News. “After that, we add spices and bake it.”
Ali says he bakes different varieties of fish, including red snapper, bream, croaker, Indian salmon and trout for up to 25 minutes and serves them oven-hot to delighted customers.
Ferozi said it was actually a combination of the taste brought about by the kiln baking and local spices that was making his fish a treat for food lovers in the port city.
“The spices are from here (Pakistan),” he told Arab News. “If there is no red chili or spices, the taste is not enjoyable.”
Muhammad Saud, a customer, said he discovered the kiln-baked fish via Facebook.
“We tried it, and the taste is very good, but it’s a bit expensive,” Saud said. “I would say that the flavor is excellent, very tasty, and it’s a new taste.”
Faroza, a radio presenter who only gave her first name, was delighted after trying the kiln-baked fish. She said it was worth the hype.
“The kiln fish was so tasty that I didn’t feel I had eaten a better-prepared fish anywhere else,” she said, adding the accompanying sauces were “equally impressive.”
“In winters, it’s so enjoyable to have it.”
Ferozi says he feels proud of his experiment’s success.
“Alhamdulillah, our experiment has been successful,” he told Arab News. “People are liking and eating it and we also like it so much.”
