WHY WE EAT PICKLED FISH AT EASTER
ONS DOEN DIT VAN OUTYDS AF
Ismail Mahomed
If one has to ask any modern Muslim woman in Cape Town why she makes pickled fish and serves it with hot cross buns during Easter she’ll probably reply, “maar hoe nou, vra djy soo ‘n dom vraag? Daar’s nie ‘n reason nie. Ons doen dit van outyds af!”
Even though the pickled fish that she might be serving on her table is the quick fix Woolworth type there is no doubt that she would serve it with the absolute pride that she is holding on to a tradition that has been handed down to her by her mother, her mother-in-law and her grandmother – and even though she may not even know why she will probably hand down the tradition to her daughter and one that she would expect her daughter-in-law to also carry on.
It’s only if the man of the house is a member of the orthodox Tabligh Jamaat that there probably wouldn’t be any pickled fish on the Easter weekend table. That’s because he would forbid the family from perpetuating a tradition of serving pickled fish which has now become synonymous with Cape
