Whenever I had errands to run in town, I park my car on the outskirts of the city centre and make my way into the town. The first shops I come across are the fishmongers. I can never pass a fishmonger's without stopping to take a look. I probably owe this fascination of mine to the fact that my parents owned a fish and chip shop in New Zealand; we didn't sell fresh fish, but my father would often bring home fresh seafood when he ordered or picked up supplies for the shop
(the big white sign says: 'Ahini from Hania')
The prices are forbidding, even at the best of times, which should be now during an economic recession; no chance of a cheap find here, unless you don't mind buying some pickarel at 6 euro a kilo. I chose European hake (hidden from view by the man's hand on the right), called 'bakaliaraki' in Greece (but probably not related to the codfish, as the word 'bakaliaros' suggests); 16 euro a kilo: 7 medium sized fish for 22 euros. I also wanted some of the contents of the little white pots and glasses in the centre of the display, but at 15 euro a punnet, sea urchins (ahini) are not cheap. |
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I love this picture and how our cultures are different. The fish at my grocery stores are frozen and also expensive. Of course, if I lived on the coast or in a large city I could get fresh fish.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a lovely lunch. Too bad you couldn't splurge on the sea urchins! Are they popular in Crete? Here they are a local speciality, but the most economic way to enjoy them is to find them yourself! In the summer (and in months when catching them is legal) it is easy along to find them just off the rocks with a mask, flippers and knife. My husband loves to do that.
ReplyDeleteMaria, I too stop to see what's the "catch of the day". I can see barbounia, sardines and gavro, tsipoures and maybe some skoumbri?
ReplyDeleteFried bakaliarakia are delish too...I'm overdue.
Oh, those fish are lovely! There is a famous fish market up in Seattle, Washington that I went to years ago where they have gorgeous displays like this. I'm able to get fresh fish where I live, but certainly nothing like the variety of this! Wow! I hope this means that you are feeling better!
ReplyDeleteFish are expensive indeed there. Here I see that wild fish are in general more expensive than farmed fish- but more affordable than the market in Hania. No fresh sardines here or small fish I was used too. Good food can be expensive. Not necessarily meat. There is cheap meat (and expensive one too). Fresh vegetables can be if I think 2$ will buy a red bell pepper. Life does still seem easier here. Only I have not discovered yet the proper place to gather wild greens.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this one , you brought back some good memories from my childhood in athens 30 years ago , and yes i have had Bakaliarakia as a Kid and i used to love them, a few bones, milky white meat, fried in olive oil with a sgueeze of lemon juice , i think that was the fish all moms used to buy to win their kids on to fish at the time, ... from Sydney OZ Leonard.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how the 'fresh' fish in my grocery store is actually frozen and several days old (or however long it took to transport it to the Midwest). In the Philippines, the variety of fish in the supermarket (not even the wet market) was amazing and absolutely fresh while the display of fish in here is fantastic. Those prices seem reasonable for something that was caught just hours before as opposed to recently thawed.
ReplyDeleteWhat a variety! I was not surprised with how pricey the fish are in Hania, since I've seen how expensive fish can be in Turkey too. You would think it would be cheaper because of living around the Mediterranean Sea. I heard some say that there are so many people fishing and most fish is caught when the fish are small, before reaching their potential size (thus before they can reproduce), so there is fewer fish in the Mediterranean.
ReplyDeleteThis just makes me jealous to live in a landlocked state.
ReplyDeleteI love seafood but so hard to come by here. cry cry cry
My oh my, what a fantastic fishmongers. Living in landlocked Oklahoma I do so miss good, fresh fish. I know it's expensive, but it's worth it.
ReplyDelete