Fish and Seafood

Every auspicious occasion in a Parsi household requires fish, because fish represents fertility, respect for the waters, prosperity. It may be a symbolic representation in chalk stencils on the floor, it may be a silver replica for the ritual tray, it may be a fish-shaped sweetmeat, it may be a pair of beautiful freshly caught pomfret brought to the door as a present, and it must be part of the day’s lunch menu, to be eaten with rice and plain dal. One might assume that fish became important in Parsi life and ritual only after the arrival in India. After all, fish were not nearly as abundant on the Iranian plateau as they were in the coastal waters off Gujarat. The archaeological record suggests the opposite: Bas-reliefs from the time of Cyrus (about 500 B.C.E.) at Pasargadae show fish as a motif, and we know that fish—dried, we hope—were considered a highly esteemed offering at many temples of the ancient Near East, because of their scarcity.