By Menna Ali Despite price increases, a high demand for fish has been recorded at the country's fish shops this week as the national holiday of Sham el-Nessim, marking the start of spring, falls on Monday. The ancient Egyptian holiday, which remains a national holiday, falls every year on the Coptic Easter Monday. Sham el-Nessim means "smelling the spring breeze". People picnic in public parks and elsewhere on the day with boiled eggs they have coloured and with the traditional Sham el-Nessim dish of fessikh which is a smelly fermented fish. Smoked herring and sardines are also among the dishes for the occasion. This year, the demand for traditional fish dishes was high although prices had gone up by 10 per cent over last year's. According to shopkeepers, the price of fessikh ranged between LE150-160 while the prices of smoked herring and salted sardines stood at LE50-60. The fish dishes are usually eaten with spring onions the prices of which also rose to stand at LE2-3. The fessikh meal is always under a spotlight every Sham el-Nessim. Although it has caused several cases of poisoning in the past due to incorrect preparation, people insist on eating it. This year, the Ministry of Health and Population released its customary annual warning against eating large amounts of fessikh, especially from unknown sources. "The preparation of fessikh is often unsafe and may lead to death ... Poisons in fessikh cannot be removed unless they have been subjected to a temperature of 100 degrees Celsius for a period of 10 minutes," the Ministry's statement said. Many people risk it, however, and buy large amounts. A long queue of customers can be seen in central Cairo at Shaheen's shop, famous for its fessikh. Randa Ismail, a 40-year-old accountant, said that the warnings were not important as long as people bought fessikh from trusted sources. "I have been buying fessikh from Shaheen for a long time and have never become ill. He pays due attention to the hygiene and health issue," she told The Egyptian Gazette. On social network sites, people have manifested their love for fessikh despite warning and price increases. "Does the government think that warning people against fessikh and saying that it can lead to death will stop us eating it? That will never happen," said a somewhat sarcastic post on a Facebook comic page. Ahead of the occasion, the Interior Ministry has also strengthened security measures in public parks, main squares and vital institutions in order to ensure that the celebration will go trouble-free. The National Council for Women has set up an operations room in order to receive any reports of sexual harassment on the occasion and deal with them immediately in co-operation with the security forces.
