I had never lived at the sea either and I have always been a city girl. So when I discovered all these fishes in all shapes, I found them rather ugly and thought that I prefer them already cleaned and cut into handy pieces and if possible without bones. I certainly didn't want to see a smiling fish head in my pan.
When I went to the fishmarket in Sanary at the French Riviera I certainly wasn't prepared to see how a dead fish looks like, the once I know were swimming in acquariums mostly in waiting rooms of dentists ! They think it calms your nerves looking at swimming little fishes. We even had once two mini fishes, a black and a red one swimming in a round bowl, which belonged to my son and which one of our cats had catched, played with them and I found the corpses under the table !
The market started with seafood. I saw the first urchins of my life. As they are called "Oursins" in French which means little bears I thought little hedgehogs would be more appropriate ! They looked quiet funny but the spikes were very sharp when I touched one.
Next came oisters, mussels and shrimps. All this I knew nicely wrapped from the Supermarket. The fish eyes looked quiet cross at me.
Claudie bought one, which was a female we have been told because it was full of eggs. Fortunately it was cleaned for us but everything the woman took out of the fish was rather disgusting and as a last gesture she cut the head off and throw everything in the bin, except the fish of course, which was wrapped in paper.
I saw another fish who had been busy to swallow a smaller one, when it was surprised by a fisher's net I suppose and killed. Now I don't know if you eat them both or not. Canibals under fishes ! A horror movie.
These charming looking calamars (I suppose they were) were certainly fresh, but honnestly if I imagine them in my kitchen, I think I would escape, although I like to eat them but already cut into pieces and breaded and not looking like monsters from another world.
I must admit that the fishes we ate were phantastic and very tasty, but still I prefer to see spices, vegetables and potatoes on a market !
Fortunately I didn't have any nightmare where a big fish swallowed me and I was sitting in its stomac !
I'm with you, would prefer to have the handy pieces clean and cut... Specially when you see the thing alive it's quite awkward to eat it afterwards...
ReplyDeleteGod bless you!
Cezar
Hi Gattina!
ReplyDeleteI take some of those oysters!!
Blogtrotter Two waits for you! Enjoy and have a great weekend!!!
Wow...I have never been to a fish market like this.
ReplyDeleteYou can't get fish fresher than that:-)
ReplyDeleteIt never used to bother me when I was young. And kinda upsets me when they gut the fish and then keep the roe to resell at a higher price.
ReplyDeleteThey salt it and then sell it to restaurants as caviar. The only thing I never liked was going to the store and have chicken eyes looking at you. Then to come home to chop off the head myself. I let my husband do that until I got used to the idea again. lol
I really like this fish market! I'was used with my father to eat fresh fishes very simply cooked on the BBQ with tomatoes and Provençal herbs! This afternoon my friends from the theater came at home with cider and cakes!!! I should do a diet tonight but Pierre and Mélissa are still hungry!
ReplyDeleteIn Ireland they had the whole pig in the butcher's window, which was a bit weird at first, since it was already all sliced up! The feet, the head, everything was there. The sausages were great though!
ReplyDeleteI live on a lake famous for its seafood, but I still prefer my fish in a cardboard box in the freezer section of the supermarket.
ReplyDeleteOh my, yes, they can look rather disgusting - and that's exactly why I do not like to prepare fish dinners! I leave it to hubby :-P
ReplyDeleteYou should see our summer farmer then - he chop their heads off with an axe! Fish heads flying! *giggles*
Still: I do like to shoot photos of them, they make very interesting photo objects!