The shutki fragrance

SOME would go to the ends of the earth to not stand the smell of shutki (fish jerky) while others have their mouths watering at the thought of having it for dinner. Regardless of the obvious divide in taste, there is a large industry of shutki. Fishermen go away on their boats out to sea for as long as 10 days and come home with boatloads of fish intended for shutki only. At the Najirartek beach in Cox's Bazar, about 10km away from the district town around 1,000 people have found employment in shutki production and cater for people even in the capital Dhaka. However, a handful of people do spoil it for some. They dip the fish in pesticides to kill the worms that sometimes grow in the shutki.

Photo: Rashed Shumon