33 



The fish are then washed in the sea and salt with a small piece ot 

 tamarind (korka) is thrust in the abdomen of the fish. They are 

 then arranged in layers in a barrel with sprinkling of salt and 

 tamarind between each layer and some weight placed on the top. 

 The barrel is then closed temporarily and kept for 3 or 4 days at 

 the end of which period the brine that is formed in the barrel is 

 drawn off through a small hole made at its bottom. The fish is 

 pressed down with the hands or by the weight of a man standing 

 on them. The barrel is then filled with more fish from other barrels 

 and this operation may be repeated till the barrel is filled to the 

 very top. It is then headed up and the brine that was drawn out 

 poured back into it through the bung hole till it is completely full 

 and overflows. The bung hole is then closed and the barrel is 

 ready for shipment. The proportion of salt required is 30 lb. per 

 maund (82 lb.) of fish, and each barrel may contain on an average 

 6,000 fish weighing about half a ton. Mackerel cured in this fashion 

 can be kept for many months, and some classes of people in Ceylon 

 have a special liking for them and pay good prices ; at times 

 the retail price may even reach an anna per fish. This cure is 

 conducted by people who specially come for the purpose during the 

 mackerel fishing season, and though they have practised it in 

 Cochin and a few other places in the south for many years past, it 

 is only three or four years since they started this at Malpe ; several 

 thousands of barrels are now being shipped every year. The 

 average cost of a barrel offish is as follows:— 



RS. 



6,000 mackerel at Rs. 5 per 1,000 30 



Salt, tamarind, and labour ... ... ... 5 



Cost of an empty barrel ... ... ... 12 



Freight, shipping charges, etc. ... ... 13 



60 



The selling price as shown above may reach double this, so that 

 there is a large margin of profits to the curing merchants, and it is 

 no wonder that the number of these curers including some of the 

 local men, has been increasing at Malpe every year. Big fish such 

 as seir, pomfret, etc, cut up into slices, may also be treated in this 

 manner. 



Ratnagiri inet/iod of curing. — Generally large fish such as seir, 

 black pomfrets, sharks, palameen, etc-, are treated in this manner. 

 The fish are split, gutted, and cleaned as in the ordinary method 

 of curing. One pound of salt is required for 3 pounds of fish ; half 

 the quantity of salt is rubbed on the cut surface of the fish, and 

 they are then stacked on the floor of the curing shed to a height of 

 3 or 4 feet. On the second day half the remaining salt is rubbed ir. 

 and the fish so re-stacked that the top fish become the bottom ones ; 

 on the third day the remaining salt is applied and the fish 

 re-stacked again. It is allowed to remain in this condition for 

 another eight days when the fish are sufficiently dry and are then 

 removed ; they are not sun-dried afterwards. The foul brine flowing 

 out from the stacks is absorbed by the sand on the floor of the shed. 

 This method of curing is carried on by curers who resort to this yard 



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