92 



goods ; smoked fish wliether liard-dried and smoked like tlie Japanese 

 bonifco wedges * (" katsu-buslii ") and red-herrings for long keeping, 

 or mild-curod, like bloaters, to be kept for a few days only ; prepara- 

 tions such as shark flesh and other pastes of Japan or the dried cod 

 meal of America ; goods pnt up in cans for indefinite preservation, 

 and, if necessary, for export. 



193. Sixthly, as a special branch of the fifth object, the canning 

 industry should be developed. On the West Coast there are three 

 sorts of sardines, excellent though small mackerel, and many other 

 good edible fish. These, as in other countries, may be preserved not 

 merely in the small tins usually seen in shops and on the table 

 but in large cans holding up to 20 lb. apiece, a matter of importance 

 when we wish to supply not so much delicacies for the rich as plain 

 food for the masses; a 10 or 20 lb. can of fat sardines, plain-boiled in 

 their own fat as in Japan, can be placed on the market at a fraction 

 of the cost of the same weight of fish put up in the usual quarter or 

 half tins whether in oil or otherwise. In India we want our fish sent 

 up-country not only untainted but in hulk, and it may easily be pos- 

 sible to supply persons just above the poorer classes with good and 

 cheap food sold retail out of cans such as kerosine tins holding 

 bulk ; hence the canning and processes should be of various classes, 

 including modes intended merely to keep goods in absolutely whole- 

 some condition during a few days' transport.! 



* Since writing the aboTe 1 have found that strips of bonito are prepared in somewhat 

 similar fashion in the Laceadives, and are sold in Ceylon and occasionally in the south of 

 this Presidency. 



t Indeed, while the art of caiining — including the proper trea^tment of Tarious fishes 

 in various ways and by various recipes to suit high-class demands especially in the foreign 

 markets — must be thoroughly taught in a proper factory as proposed, there is nothing to 

 prevent any intelligent person, with one or two thousand rupees to risk, from setting 

 up a small factory in Calicut, 'i'ellicheiry, etc., entering into relations with a few boat- 

 men so as to ensure a regular supply of fish in a fresh condition, purchasing a quantity 

 of sound kerosine tins or other sound cans and a small soldering plant, and after 

 preparing his fish, and filling and closing his tins, despatching them to a convenient 

 market. The preparation might be i^imple, e.g/., brining the fish for an hour or two, 

 draining, partial drying, packing in the tins with a small quantity of boiling oil, 

 closing and processing in a brine bath in ihe absence of a steam-cooker; the oil may 

 be giugely, ground-nut or if available, cotton seed, all excellent cooking oils and 

 believed to be largely consumed as olive oil; in America cotton seed oil is frequently 

 used in canning in place of olive oil and in the State of Maine is alone mentioned 

 in the law relating to canning. If the sardines, etc., arc fat enough as in the cold 

 weather, simple boiling, as in Japan, may suffice. Even if this is open to the objection 

 attached to cooked food (which, however, is hardly the case, since the cooking is only 

 after the tin is closed so that the fish cannot be touched by hand) it would serve for 

 many classes, especially if supervised by "caste" men. Moreover, other proccbscs are 

 available ; after treatment with brine and drying, it is easy to smoke the goods lightly 

 and then to can or otherwise pack them. Similarly, instead of kerosine tins small kegs 

 can be cheaply made on the West Coast, and in thesa the cleaned fisli may be packed 

 in salt and brine (pickle) and will then travel well and keep well for many days. 

 However, it is probable that Government experiment and demonstration will be awaited, 

 and it is certain that there is a wide and instant opportunity. 



