GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gazans have become accustomed to eating salted fish such as fesikh on the first day of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the month of Ramadan. Different types of fesikh are sold in the market during the last 10 days of Ramadan. Gazans believe that fesikh detoxifies the stomach because it contains large amounts of salt, which they believe is beneficial after a month of fasting. The women, who wait for their husbands and sons to return home from the Eid al-Fitr prayer in the early morning, fry the fish with garlic and tomatoes, the smell of which fills the alleys, streets and towns in the Gaza Strip.

Fisherman Ismael al-Amoudi said this popular dish dates back to the 1960s when the Egyptians ruled Gaza. At the time, he said, Palestinian fishermen from Gaza would fish with their Egyptian counterparts in Egyptian waters.

“We would stay three days at sea to fish with Egyptian fishermen. We did not have any freezers to put the fish in, so the Egyptian fishermen would salt the fish to preserve it and then soak it in water before cooking it for the Sham Ennisim holiday [Egyptian holiday marking the first day of spring],” Amoudi told Al-Monitor.

During Sham Ennisim, which falls on the day after the Eastern Christian Easter, Egyptian families traditionally go out to public gardens and parks and eat special meals that most notably includes fesikh with eggs.