A fish by any other name doesn’t taste as good, if the proverb were to be tweaked! For the whole trend of the Vietnamese basa fish (also often alluded to in jest by foodies as a ‘characterless’ catch) that jumped onto menus since a few years for its cost effectiveness, is no longer the fin of choice in city eateries. Upto even a few months ago, chances are if you stepped into a Pan-Asian, Indian or even Continental eatery, this was the fish they’d serve in a flourish on your plate, but with discernng tastebuds today, that’s no longer so. Enter its successor, the bhetki.

To market, to market...to buY a fresh BHETKI: Food blogger Kalyan Karmakar chooses a bhetki from the bustling Khar fish market. The fish is bought by weight and the price is roughly R1,000 per kg, depending on the size. Pics/Sameer Markande