Food is apparently one way of consigning people into categories. If steamed rice is part of your dinner more than once a week, then apparently you are deemed a Hyderabadi. Have a fondness for cholay and/or saag? You must be Punjabi. And if you eat a lot of fish, be prepared, for you will inevitably be asked in hushed tones by at least one busybody “are you Bengali?”

Why must affiliation to our former compatriots from what used to be East Pakistan be a necessary prerequisite for indulging in seafood? Sindh is, after all, home to the much celebrated palla fish and fish pullao is enjoyed in many Sindhi households. And let's not forget the Punjab, where the food street in Lahore's Gawalmandi is world famous for, among other things, fried fish made with Lahori fish masala and served with chutney.

There are those who will whine about the “smell” of fish. They need to hold their noses and realise that fish is an excellent source of protein, low in fat and a direct source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for cognitive development and normal brain functioning. Studies have shown that eating fish during pregnancy improves foetal intellectual development and slows mental decline in the elderly. Doctors recommend that fish be eaten at least twice a week.

Apart from the “smell” factor, there are several myths that have been in circulation for ages. These may be attributed to the general suspicion with which seafood, even plain old fish, is viewed by many Pakistanis — a curious feature in a country which borders the Arabian Sea.

The most common myth is that drinking milk or eating a milk product after a meal that features fish will create white patches on the skin. Vitiligo, also known as leucoderma, is a skin disorder which causes skin to lose its pigmentation and turn white in several areas. There is no scientific evidence to prove the link between eating fish and vitiligo, in fact, when I once mentioned it to a friend from Bangladesh he said that in his country the same is said about beef and milk!

Another popular myth passed down through generations is about the taseer (genetic make-up or nature) of fish. Fish are said to have garam (hot) taseer as does beef, chocolate, most dried fruits and spices. Since too much garam food is considered unhealthy, fish tends to get a bad reputation — yet nobody says anything against chocolate or shami kebabs...

Modern-day medical practitioners, of course, snicker at this hot and cold classification of food but, as hard as it is to believe, we did not come up with it; we seem to have inherited it from the ancient Greek and Chinese. (It is interesting to note that there is some confusion about the taseer of mango and yoghurt — the Greeks (and we) hold that mango is garam and yoghurt thanda (cold), but the Chinese believe that it is the other way round.)

Then there are those who hold that fish should only be eaten in the months that have an 'r' in their names, which means that in May, June, July and August fish is off-limits. The reasoning behind this is that summer is fish breeding season so catching/buying/eating fish during those months is a crime against ecology. Moreover, during breeding season fish produce certain toxins in their bodies which make the flesh unpalatable.

Whether this is a myth or not depends on the country you live in. In most developed countries fish meant for consumption are commercial raised and harvested; which is why wild Pacific salmon is an expensive commodity even in countries which touch the Pacific Ocean. In Pakistan, where the fish is still bred in the old-world style, it is better for the sake of the fish population to abstain from fresh seafood in the summer. Frozen fish which was caught earlier in the year is an available option — provided one does not have reservations about its alleged garam taseer in hot weather.

Last but not least is the myth about the presence of mercury in seafood. While most varieties of seafood do contain trace amounts of mercury, it is not a cause for concern for most people (only pregnant women and young children need to limit their fish intake to two servings per week) and, in the end, the benefits of eating fish far outweigh the risks.

Because remember, there is no such thing as Mad Fish Disease.