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Friday Village Market, Fethiye

Fethiye Friday Market – Local Produce From The Villagers

Our favourite food market is the Fethiye Friday village market (Cuma KΓΆy PazarΔ±).

We write a lot about the local food markets in Turkey but we’ve never written about our favourite one – until today that is.

Fethiye Friday Market

Cuma KΓΆy PazarΔ± means the Friday Village Market and that’s why we like to go here so much.

It’s on the same site as the Tuesday market in Fethiye but you won’t see the clothes and souvenir stalls of the big market here.

Fridays are for locally grown fruit and vegetables only, set along the canal and also under the covered area.

Friday Village Market, Fethiye
The Friday village market has grown but is rarely crowded

And, whereas the Tuesday market is absolutely packed with shoppers of all types, the Fethiye Friday market is a market where you can amble around in your own space and your own time, browse the stalls, pick and choose.

In our guide to Γ‡alış Sunday market, we said that was chilled and relaxed, as is Γ‡iftlik Market on Thursdays, too.

But the Friday pazar beats both Γ‡alış and Γ‡iftlik hands down in the chill factor stakes.

Local Produce

Fresh Local Produce
You never know what you’re going to find on the stalls

And you won’t see the usual market traders here.

These people are villagers from the surrounding areas and they come to sell their own local seasonal produce.

The stalls are haphazard; some displays neatly arranged, but many are just a mixed pile of random goodies.

From fruits, salad stuffs and vegetables to large plastic tubs of homemade pekmez (molasses from various seasonal fruits), nar ekşisi, olive oil, cured olives…

And usually a few village eggs balancing precariously on top of everything, just for good measure.

We don’t go to the Fethiye Friday market with a shopping list.

No, the village market is for browsing and perusing. Because the thing is, you just never know what’s going to be there.

It’s whatever the villagers have on the day.

And that’s what you’re going to buy to make your fridge and cupboards a tad more interesting, in a random kind of way.

Seasonal Produce

Friday Market Shopping
What will we buy today?

Sometimes, at the Friday Market, we don’t even know what it is that we’re looking at!

And labels often don’t help because it’s the village market.

If there is any label there at all, village names are used to describe a lot of the produce.

Dialect is a beautiful aspect of language – it’s just not so helpful when you’re trying to work out what a foodstuff is.

Friday Market Seasonal Food
The villagers sell whatever is in season

Sometimes we’ll struggle to find the staples like potatoes and onions. But that’s okay. We buy those on Tuesdays and Sundays.

We come home from the Friday market with random bags. Rodos Kabağı, courgette flowers. Small bunches of wildflowers that have been picked around the local villages…

Wild salad leaves that are just described as yeşillik (greenery).

We genuinely have no idea what a lot of the leaves are. But they’re edible and they make for more interesting salads like this Turkish wild radish leaf salad.

And, if you get hungry whilst you’re browsing the sometimes weird and wonderful produce, you won’t see the huge street food area of kebab stands that do good trade on the Tuesday and Sunday markets.

But you will see a couple of stalls selling bazlama and gΓΆzleme (Turkish flat breads). And this is good gΓΆzleme!

Great GΓΆzleme
A gΓΆzleme conveyor belt at the Friday village market

Not too oily, not too thin and crispy, but packed with filling – and it’s usually a lira or two cheaper than on the main markets.

It’s a little added bonus to the random Friday village market shopping trip.

August 13, 2012 by Turkey's For Life 14 Comments

Filed Under: Things To Do In Fethiye Tagged With: Fethiye Markets

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Comments

  1. Rambling Tart

    August 13, 2012 at 12:19 pm

    I love that notion of ONLY selling what’s in season. How healthy and sensible. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  2. Liv

    August 13, 2012 at 12:48 pm

    I miss all the fresh fruit and vegetables in the Fethiye markets, especially the summer selection. Australia is obsessed with using Australian produce, which is all very well but some of it is terrible quality. Afiyet olsun!

    Reply
  3. Liv

    August 13, 2012 at 12:50 pm

    I miss Turkey’s fresh fruit and vegetables, especially the summer selection. Australia is obsessed with using Australian produce, which is all very well in principle, but some of it is terrible quality and it is SO expensive. Afiyet olsun!

    Reply
  4. Alan

    August 13, 2012 at 1:47 pm

    prickly pears are delicious! Locals put a couple of plastic bags on each hand and rub the fruit to remove the spines and then split them open – I’ve never done this, I use a knife and fork and skin them the hard way! Put the fruit in a bowl of iced water and keep in the fridge. Scrunch the whole of the innards, seeds an’ all, preferably with ice cream – yummy!

    Reply
  5. Cally

    August 13, 2012 at 9:21 pm

    And the best benefit of buying from local village growers is that they generally grow without chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers, so you are often getting organic food without the price increase that is charged for certified organic produce. And of course natural growing conditions mean much better nutrition values because the soils have not been depleted of their minerals.

    Prickly pears are super good for you and have all 8 amino acids that we can’t make in our own bodies, so stuff your face! In Central America they’ve used them for their anti diabetic properties for 1000’s of years. They are also very anti inflammatory (good for achey muscles and crampy ladies!). They have a load of vitamins and minerals in them and they are good for your cardiovascular system and your heart (I forget why, but you could google it). If I could get them I’d be a munching!!!

    If they are freshly picked they probably still have their prickles (unlike supermarket ones) so here is a link on how to prepare them without getting spiked: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_cut_and_prepare_prickly_pears/

    Reply
  6. [email protected]

    August 14, 2012 at 1:18 am

    I can see why you love this market. No souvenirs etc. Knowing that it’s just local villagers growing the freshest produce is great.I’m tasting the gozleme already!!

    Reply
  7. Peter

    August 14, 2012 at 7:18 am

    Where is the market located

    Reply
  8. Turkey's For Life

    August 14, 2012 at 9:37 am

    @ Rambling Tart: Well it just makes more sense doesn’t it to grow what’s seasonal. Silly that we all demand the same fruits and vegetables, year round.

    @ Liv: I would have imagined the Australian produce to be really good. How weird. Not surprised you miss the Turkish seasonal food, then. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  9. Turkey's For Life

    August 14, 2012 at 9:41 am

    @ Alan: Oh, thanks for the recipe. I think all the prickly bits have been removed already when they’re selling them on Fethiye market. Will have to investigate further. Definitely going to buy some, though. πŸ™‚

    @ Cally: Wow, that was a lot of info – and all good news, too. Thanks for that. Think we’ll keep our eye out for some next time we’re at Fethiye market. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  10. Turkey's For Life

    August 14, 2012 at 9:43 am

    @ Jenny: Oh, the gΓΆzleme is so good!! And the Fethiye Friday market is so chilled, too. a great way to do your shopping. πŸ™‚

    @ Peter: The Fethiye Friday market is on the same site as the Tuesday market, along the canal in the centre of town. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  11. Matt

    August 14, 2012 at 6:01 pm

    One thing I love about Turkey! The super fresh, organic and cheap fruits and veggies at the local farmer markets!

    Reply
  12. Turkey's For Life

    August 15, 2012 at 9:00 am

    @ Matt: The markets in Turkey are fab, aren’t they. We always hunt one out wherever we go. Highlight of any trip. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  13. Backto Bodrum

    August 15, 2012 at 10:22 pm

    Somewhere I have a photo of me shopping in the Fethiye market in 1981. I must fish it out and send it to you so you can compare. I bet it won’t look too different to today.

    Reply
  14. Turkey's For Life

    August 16, 2012 at 9:00 am

    @ BacktoBodrum: This is the Friday market and will probably never change. I bet the Tuesday market has grown a lot, though. Would love to see your photo. πŸ™‚

    Reply

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