Fugu, the ‘deadly’ fish to be banned

The decades-long mandatory rule of acquiring a licence to prepare the poisonous Fugu or Blowfish may soon be a thing of the past abroad. TOI explores whether Mumbai hotels would serve the deadly fish without one.
The most toxic of marine creatures, the Fugu or Blowfish has a poison that can kill instantly. For decades, handling and preparing the fish in restaurants has been the job of licenced chefs, but new laws which will come into effect this October in Japan will open the lucrative trade to restaurants without a license as well.
In Mumbai, it’s sashimi style!
Executive chef Clinton Cooper, of a five-star hotel in midtown Mumbai, says the fish is a very popular dish at his restaurant. “It’s all about the texture and feeling you get from eating it,” says Cooper, who dishes up a Fugu salad, among other things. “You get a faint numbing sensation on your tongue after eating a small quantity of the Fugu, and people want to experience that. It’s a thrill! People want to go back and tell their friends they’ve tried it.”
Adds food expert Rashmi Uday Singh, “I’ve eaten Fugu in Los Angeles and at Cooper’s restaurant, the only place serving the deadly fish in the city. I ate it and survived to tell the tale! Only licenced chefs can remove the poison and serve it. After two years of rigorous training, only about 30 per cent of chefs pass the test!”
Licence a must
Says Cooper, “It takes a whole lot of time and skill to get a license for Fugu, so doing away with it is wrong. A lot of deaths took place in Japan after people caught it and did not know how to handle it.” He says they are soon flying down a licensed chef for preparing Fugu and in the interim period he maintains it’s safe enough to prepare the fish. “As per the law, when the Fugu is imported, the liver and heart, which are the most toxic parts, have to be removed,” he states. Chef Jaydeep Mukherjee underlines the importance of having a skilled person for the job. “I would want the person I hired to have that. To fool around with something that has potential for danger is not right,” he states.
Executive chef Nachiket Shetye has the last word. “Having a licence to deal with the Fugu is an absolute must and banishing the need is wrong. There have been lots of cases where even master chefs have cleaned out the fish and still people have died. Here in India too, you need to have a licence to cook the fish.”
Fugu Facts
- The fish swells up in defense and is said to contain enough poison to kill 30 people. Its ovaries, liver and intestines contain tetrodotoxin, a poison so potent that it can produce rapid and violent death.
- There is no known antidote to its poison.
- A single fugu can sell for about US$300 (approx Rs 15,500).
- Fugu foie gras is regarded by connoisseurs as more delicate than that of the goose (it also involves none of the ethical quandaries of force-feeding).