I found myself in Istanbul on a rainy day and having had my fill on ruins and mosques, I headed to the fish market out of curiosity. The market is on the banks of the Bosphorus straight which connects the Black sea to the sea of Marmora and on to the Mediterranean. The fish come from a wide ranging area as far as I could tell. With a population of 13 Milliion people this city consumes vasts amount of fish, some of which was on display at the market.
A child looks at a small swordfish, a denizin of the deep, the two should never have to meet
The market was a complete mix of fish from fresh water carp, tiny anchovey, mantis shrimps, farmed gilt head sea bream to swordfish, huge monk fish and Conger eels.
A species of goat fish or sometimes called Red Mullet
Anchovies, neatly laid out ready to be fried and put on someones dinner plate
Mantis shrimps by the crate load
A very large monk fish
There was certainly no discrimination towards size and they sold and ate everything from tiny live shad or elf in buckets of water to tiny 5kg Swordfish.
Buckets of tiny shad ready to be sold
I even came across a spearfish , which I had never seen before.
A single spearfish hung with the rest of the species on offer
We stopped and had dinner at one of the small shops. I ordered farmed gilt head sea bream, just to try a farmed fish. It arrived, a small fish whole fish big enough for one person. Not something I would ever see at a restaurant in South Africa, but waiter took a knife to it and completely de-boned it. There is a culture there of eating small fish that I just haven’t found at home. People around me ordered plates of fried anchovies, something else I have not seen before.
A blur of buyers walk around looking at the fish on offer
Buyers point out what they want
