Around mid-November these lovely tasting little fish start to swim towards warmer waters from the Black Sea. The Black Sea fishermen drop their nets and we get rewarded on Fethiye fish market with an abundance of yummy hamsi (anchovies). I’ve seen photos on the internet of the Black Sea fishermen knee deep in them. Hamsi will probably be available on the fish market for the next couple of weeks or so.
Fresh Hamsi for sale on Fethiye Fish Market yesterday.
Roll them in a bit of spiced flour and deep fry them for a minute or two – mmmmmm, they’re amazing. You can eat the whole fish, once they’re cleaned of course, a bit like whitebait. Hamsi ekmeği (anchovy butty to you and me) is for sale in most of the smaller restaurants and lokantas for about 3 lira at this time of year as well. It’s just fish eating season and I love it! I want one now!
Take a look at our Turkish recipe for hamsi.
Oooh, please can we have some photos of what’s happening down on the sea front (I love palm trees!!).
Keep us all happy in cold old Blighty!
Thanks, jules
Thanks for your comment Jules. Will be doing another harbour update in the New Year – hopefully on a sunny day next time as yesterday’s photos are a bit dark.