The Return of the Masgouf

"We are open for business!" The Arabic language daily, Al-Hayat, recently reported on the re-opening of Baghdad's famous fish district, Abu Nawas. The star of this riverside row of restaurants is the legendary Masgouf (مسكوف) fish, a relatively plain fish at first sight, but upon closer inspection, this fish is actually a symbol of Iraq's resilience and improving security situation. "All this!?" you ask, "from a measly, smelly fish pulled from the Tigris river?!" Allow me to elaborate.
While my Iraqi friend, Ehab, was still living here in Cairo (he's now living large in Brooklyn, New York, by the way), we took a trip to an Iraqi restaurant in Giza, not too far from Egypt's largest pyramids. The draw for this restaurant was its outdoor swimming pool full of Masgouf fish, dozens of them! After a few minutes of fishing with a net, we caught (In Ehab's words, "condemned") an unlucky fish and sat down in the empty restaurant to eat.
As our fish was being cooked, Ehab recounted his days sitting by the Tigris river in Baghdad, enjoying the breeze, relaxing with friends and family, and of course, eating a delicious Masgouf fish or two. "The Masgouf is Iraq's specialty, from the heart of Baghdad…walking along the Tigris at night there were dozens of Masgouf fish sellers lining the road…everyone would go out for a walk, hang out with friends, enjoy the evening…" Ehab reminisced about his days in Baghdad along the Tigris, before the war, before the shelling, before the horror that his city had become.
So what does the re-opening of this small, economically unimportant fish district mean for Iraq?
Well, for starters, it's a good sign for Iraq's security progress. The fear of bombs, mortars, snipers…all that's still out there, but the general level of violence has dropped significantly since the 'surge.' Tension was high and security was tight during the grand opening, but people nonetheless turned out in droves to get their hands on some delicious fish.
Most importantly, though, the Masgouf fish is a symbol of Iraqi resilience. Four plus years of death and destruction, but that's in the past (insh'Allah). People are less afraid, at least for now, to go out, enjoy a night on the town, indulge in a few simple pleasures. The past four years have weighed heavily on the Iraqi people and while I hope the country's stability will continue to improve, there are still dark clouds on the horizon.
Ehab and I's Iraqi-Egyptian Masgouf fish was delicious, though not, Ehab assured me, anything like those found in Baghdad. Hopefully Ehab will be able to some day return to Baghdad's Masgouf district, and who knows? Maybe after a few years I'll be able to join him.