Most of us have had to endure that gagging stench while passing a fisherwoman’s cart; naturally assuming fish are meant to smell that way. So it was a bit of a surprise to discover that seafood isn’t supposed to stink, it just does due to bacteria caused by poor storage and processing.

To ensure that his ingredients are fresh and do not start smelling, Taranath Kuckian, manager of

Trishna at Kalaghoda, has his shopper visit Crawford Market or Sassoon dock everyday at 6 am with all purchases delivered to their restaurant at 6.30 am. He emphasises, “We purchase our fish daily and clean, process (if required) and freeze the fish immediately.”

One can see why the resulting dishes taste so good at Trishna, unarguably one of the best seafood eateries in the city, that only sources its seafood locally, even during the monsoon from Gujarat,Cochin or Kolkata.

Executive Chef of the Taj President, Ananda Solomon, though, oversees a much larger and trickier procurement operation—a large proportion of his ingredients including seafood has to be imported every morning after going through a maximum nine-hour flight. “I firmly believe in using fresh, natural and authentic ingredients available locally depending on the season,” he states. However, often the quality of ingredients sourced locally is not good enough for his rigorous standards and that of his discerning customers. He cites the example of the humble lettuce; it can be sourced from the Nashik-Pune region but he imports lettuce from France because it is still healthier, fresher and crisper than the local alternative.

“The main issue is the lack of adequate cooling facilities during transportation of the lettuce to Mumbai,” concurs Pallav Singhal, Executive Sous Chef of the Hyatt at Kalina, when quizzed about this particular plant. He has even offered to assist suppliers in investing in refrigerated trucks to transport vegetables such as lettuce, but so far they have not considered this option economically viable. Chef Singhal, though, is committed to sourcing locally when possible. For example, he uses lamb sourced from Jaipur for his Indian restaurant Soma while M Grill only uses lamb from New Zealand — the flavour of

Indian lamb suits the dishes it is used in. Ideally, though, Chef Pallav would be delighted if the hotels and restaurants in Mumbai united to set standards of quality in food supply and distribution.

Nikhil Chib, owner/chef of

Busaba, uses the 400 square-foot terrace on top of his restaurant to grow the exotic vegetables he needs — lemongrass, kaffir lime and sweet basil. Chib has an established network of suppliers in local markets, a fruit of his hard work in scouting Crawford Market and Sassoon Dock for quality suppliers. He also suggests visiting Dadar market, and for pork particularly, one can get good quality in Dukkar Gali near Metro. “The only way for suppliers to consistently provide exotic vegetables we need is through vertical integration — buying a plot of land and then growing, processing and transporting them myself,” he says.

Which really isn’t a bad idea, given the shocking price rises of vegetables recently.

TOP TIPS

* The best time to buy seafood is before 10 am, process it at home and store in a zip-lock bag in the freezer

* For scaly fish, like pomfret, ensure scales are firm and pressing flesh will not leave a dent. Eyes should be bright and not sunken or bloodshot. If you press gills and see white water, it indicates it was freshly caught

* If crab is inferior it will be frothy around the mouth; corners of lobster’s tail should be white and not discoloured.

* A red meat block should be firm and not crumble on slicing. Colour should be pink to red and the fat should be white