can you still get bombay duck? and why is it called that when its a fish??

Answer 1

The Bombay duck is, despite its name, a lizardfish. The origin of the term "Bombay duck" is uncertain. Some advance the theory that, during the British Raj, the fish was often transported by rail after drying. The story goes that the train compartments of the Bombay Dak (in English, the Bombay Mail) would smell of the fish, consequently leading the British to euphemistically refer to the peculiar smell as the "Bombay Dak" This was supposedly corrupted into "Bombay duck". Although the likelihood of this origin is questionable, it does have the authority of a BBC Radio 4 interview in August 2006.
In 1997, Bombay Duck was banned by the European Commission (EC) of the European Union. The EC admitted that it had no "sanitary" evidence against the product and the UK Public Health Laboratory Service confirmed that there are no recorded cases of food poisoning, or bacterial contamination, associated with Bombay Duck. It was banned because the EC only allows fish imports from India from approved freezing and canning factories. Bombay Duck is not produced in factories.
According to "The Save Bombay Duck campaign" [1], the Indian High Commission approached the European Commission about the ban. The EC adjusted the regulations so that the fish can still be dried in the open air but has to be packed in an "EC approved" packing station. Now a Birmingham wholesale merchant has found a packing source in Mumbai/Bombay and the product is again available.
Bombay Duck is available fresh in Canada in cities with large Indian populations, such as Toronto and Montreal and is generally known as bumla.

Answer 2

Not a duck at all, this pungent, flavorful food is actually dried salted fish. It can be found in East Indian markets and some specialty markets. Bombay duck is most often used to flavor curried dishes. It's also cooked until crisp and eaten as a snack.
Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I am a former chef and have eaten several times in Canada and when I worked in Singapore, it is a dish that is not widely available on all Indian restaurants menus, mainly because it is a intensively elaborate dish, even though it is dried fish marinated in a wet masala, the coated with flour and deep fried, and is serve with naan and a spicey tamarind sauce, alot like fish jerky with a kick.

My recommendation is find a good Indian restaurant to make it, a bad one is not a pleasant thing and it does not come cheap either, nowadays.

Answer 4

maybe cuz in bombay, its a duck.

Answer 5

think the spelling is "dak" or something like that
but not "duck"