The Catania fish market gave me many new impressions which are can still recall after almost a year.

But the little street-food discoveries will remain for ever. It was not about the best pizza, arancini or other Italian specialities. These discoveries were about foods or dishes I had not known before, neither from Instagram or any other media.

They filled me with joy of an explorer of uncharted territories who can taste something new, even though it has been done as a craft by the people of Catania since a long time. Watching the people prepare the foods was different to watching somebody flipping burger patties. And the culinary sensations were so exciting to me.

Or simpler said: I experienced happiness.

Seltz Limone e Sale

As I didn’t have a coffee in the morning, I was attracted by a kiosk at the market with an espresso machine. Of course I could not resist to get a cup. And I needed a second one. I observed the owner how he was squeezing lemon into a glass of sparkling water with some white stuff on the bottom which looked like sugar. But he did not take it out of a typical sugar jar. Interesting.

But not for now, since I just had an espresso.

On my second round of the market, I could not resist. I had to try that drink. And watch the whole procedure of making this sort of lemonade. It takes it time.

First the glass is being filled several time with sparkling water coming out of a tap, pouring it into the sink and redoing the exercise a couple times. Just to get the glass in the right temperature? Maybe, even though it looked more like a ritual than something else.

Then came the white crystals, a couple spoons full. Most of it remained as a layer on the bottom of the plastic glass. I had to wait until the first sip to find out what it really was.

Then came freshly squeezed lemon juice, I’d say around 4 small lemon. They were already halved and the top removed, making them look bold or so – if you consider the peel to be hair. To squeeze the lemon the owner used a sort of pliers made specifically to get the juice out of them directly into my glass. The speed and strength used was remarkable. The result was a nice layer of foam like on a glass of beer in Bavaria.

Now it was my turn to taste this bubbly drink. I was excited to have the chance to drink something new and seemingly truly local. It was already getting warm, so a refreshing drink would be the right thing for now.

I did not get disappointed. The drink was so refreshing, the acidity and aroma of the lemon, the sparkling water … and the salt. Yes the white powder was salt, it took all possible sweetness out of the juice and added a different kind of dry freshness. Beautiful! I just had to pay attention not to drink the salt remainder on the bottom of the glass, that would have ruined it.

I came back later to drink a couple more. A fantastic simple drink this Seltz Limone e Sale.

Tripe

After my second & third espresso / Seltz Limone e Sale I turned around and saw a new scene.

A couple men were standing at a simple camping style table, picking some stuff with a tooth pick. Again something new. What was that what they were picking and eating?

I made a few steps and had a closer look. Those were pieces of offal. And I love that stuff. Of course I had to order it. 3 Euros for a bowl. The vendor had a huge beaten up pot, probably 30 liters big sitting on a small gas cooker on the floor. The tilted lid on top made a vagabond out of it. With a large fork he pulled out the boiled rumen and other offal I did not recognize. All kinds of shapes. The rumen had a pattern of a fishing net, others were curled like pig tails: a colorful assortment of offal. Things I had not seen before and still cannot name. With a swing they landed on the table and cut into digestible pieces.

I ordered my part, with his knife he pushed it on the table towards me, no bowl needed. I got a tooth pick and a lemon to squeeze some juice on top of this beautiful arrangement. I picked up my first piece and had a wonderful mouthfeel and taste. It is hard to describe. It is kind of softly rubbery, a bit uncommon with an unpretentious umami aroma.

I will probably always prefer this over a steak as it tastes more interesting to me. Yes a great steak offers a lot as well, this is why it is so popular in general. But after having eaten steaks in the US & South Africa, those in Germany do not excite me anymore. Tripe do.

Which wine does fit to those tripe which do not come with thick sauce but just plain? I don’t know. Maybe a Pinot gris?

Even without, it was a great meal and experience.

Smoke

Next corner.

A thick layer of smoke coming from a barbecue attracted me. It did not seem that something was really burning. The owner pulled off a cover of this simple rectangular and flat metal construction, only his face remained visible when all the smoke burst out. But what was on that charcoal fueled “factory”? Despite being only a curious tourist, the owner gave me a smile and made me feel good coming a bit closer taking a few pictures. What I saw were trays filled with either grilled peppers or artichokes, nicely put next to each other.

The artichokes were sitting on their stems, which became black after the procedure, the pointed “leaves” faced the sky like green flames trying to go as high up as possible. The peppers had lost their shaped like balloons without air, their skins having turned black.

They were not made to be eaten on the spot as there were no plates and cutlery laying around for customers. So I assume the gentleman helped households to overcome the tedious procedure to grill your own vegetables for lunch or dinner. As I never asked what kind of dishes are made with these beautiful products, I remain ignorant.

Making a living

How do those guys make a living? How many bowls of tripe does one need to produce and sell to make a decent living? Staying in the smoke the whole day, is this something one can do a whole life and finance retirement? No idea, I hope they all have a good life as much as they brought it to me with their wonderful products.

The post Feeling joyful like a kid – Catania, Sicily / Italy appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

Approaching Catania

The fish market in Catania on Sicily island in Italy is quite known and was part of our last destination on this trip.

We came from the North Coast via Bronte on the slopes of the Etna volcano to Catania. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant day. The rain did not make things better.

The start was promising. We left Cefalu on a Sunday drove up a beautiful mountainous landscape where I was unhappy not to have enough time for a hike. The stop at a local bakery Biscottificio Miraglia in San Fratello with the most beautiful sandwiches one can imagine. Wonderful thinly sliced mortadella, prosciutto and cheese in tasty wheat rolls. Basic food in perfection.

Then the rain started and everything got truly gray. Bronte is famous for its pistachios, but nothings seemed open on this rainy Sunday. Only at the outskirts one old guy sold them out of his little old car.

And then the “trash highway” started, trash everywhere, as if the garbage collection was on strike. All the way from Bronte to Catania. I have been living or working in poor countries on the African continent but I had never seen something like that before.

On top of that we had to take a detour on the highway as the right exit was closed, leading us through not so nice industrial and commercial areas.

We finally arrived just before darkness at the hotel in downtown next to the fish market.

While it was still raining, we made a walk through town, the old architecture made the city look nicer than at the beginning. Unfortunately the fish restaurant where we wanted to eat was fully booked. I texted back home to a chef friend and got a good recommendation. Peace of mind was back.

Starting early at fish market day

We started early on Monday. At 8 o’clock we stepped out of the hotel, passing the beautiful “Fontana dell’Amenano”to enter the fish market and saw:

Nothing

Well almost.

Just a few improvised stalls and a few people.

It was so quiet that an octopus had the chance to jump out of his box full with his comrades to start moving a bit on the ground. This was probably the most lively scene yet.

What was supposed to be stalls was still empty. Was this the fish-less season? Are fish mongers getting up late? I never found out.

So we decided to stroll over to the main market to come back later. This was the right decision. The main market was very lively, big and worth a visit but this is for another post.

A couple hours or so later we came back and the stall had filled up.

The octopus was of course back in his box, and we saw many other fishes and creatures of the sea. I am not too familiar with this type of food, but it was easy to identify the mighty swordfishes, remarkable animals and to my surprise plenty at the market.

Being a tourist at a fish market

Being a tourist is a disadvantage when you are interested in fresh produce hence farmers’ markets. Some produce cannot be eaten fresh so easily, and sometimes the transport time without cooling is too long for an unspoiled produce experience.

So I feel rather like a spectator of a sea world zoo or a streetfood festival visitor than a fully embedded market visitor, especially as I am not speaking Italian or Sicilian (yes this is considered to be a separate language).

Opening my eyes, observe, trying to get good shots, this is what I am aiming for then.

What the fish market exudes

It is worth opening those eyes as I do not experience that many open fish markets in my life.

This market exudes robustness. We are not in a hipster world here. No fancy signage or displays. Lots of ice to cool down the produce. Surprisingly no shouting. Many people coming by without buying.

As the market is not one single plaza but is spread around various spaces under or next to the surrounding buildings and alleys, each corner has its own distinct set of merchants. The stalls were some times only a camping table with a few boxes, giving the impression that the gradient from hobby fishermen to commercial trader was rather fluid.

I loved the unpretentious ambiance of the market, despite being a tourist attraction life seemed normal and I did not spot any market souvenirs, neither bags nor mugs or stickers.

What the fish market offers

I have hard times remembering names. Even after decades of eating lots of great cheeses, I cannot remember their names. Okay Parmesan and mozzarella are fairly easy. But how does a Vacherin again look like? Embarrassing. Now imagine that with fish. No way. Especially as I almost only see fish filet and not whole ones.

Still it seemed that the variety was not very large, I doubt that there were more than 20 different species being sold. But all sorts of mussels and shrimps added diversity to the offering.

King of the market was the swordfish. A big fish. Some of them longer than my arm span. Its head with sword were on display quite frequently, almost like a show-off: who has the biggest. But it is also a great signage when your eyes are wandering around.

It was mostly sold as slices looking like round steaks, just that the meat was not as red, rather whitish with red tones. The muscles formed often a four leaved clover around the fish’s spine, and each “leaf” with several rings reminding of growth rings from trees.

Other fish were eel like (they looked a bit sad), some had the sizes of sardines, others were tiger like striped or looked like gilt-head breams. But as said, I am pretty bad at recognizing fish varieties and even worse at remembering their names.

Some of the mussels made us smile: in one box, covered with water the mussels seemed to burp as the infrequent air bubbles coming up to the surface indicated.

It was not clear to me where all the fish and seafood came from. Where they captured in the Mediterranean Sea or did they come from further away? Were they captured by small scale fishermen or by large fleets?

Some of the frozen fish in boxes for sale, indicating a diversity of origins. Next time I will look at the individual labels to get a better understanding of the market.

The other side of the market

imagine an inner circle for fish and an outer ring with vegetable shops, butchers, cheese mongers and a few rather unusual stalls. This outer ring complements the fish market in a very nice way. And it is worth exploring the beautiful produce!

Being October the fruits and vegetables were still very colorful almost summer like, not so many tomatoes, but prickly pears all around.

The butchers were of the rustic kind, cutting the animal parts in front of the customers, something I do not see this that often anymore. Nose to tail was not a trend, tripe, liver, pork feet seemed to be part of the local cuisine. I really love to see the animal being used in his whole entity and not being so abstract as in the plastic wrapped Styrofoam boxes in supermarkets.

The cheese mongers made it easy on me, they vacuumed some of my purchases, especially the smoked mozzarella was still great at home.

The local street food experience was great (no burgers!) and deserves another post.

Was it worth the visit?

Open fish markets are always fascinating to me, so far the most impressive one was in Athens but I also experienced one in Marseille.

When I see all the fishes I am always asking myself: how were the fish killed, how much did they have to suffer? Are the areas where the fishes came from over-fished? I never properly researched on those questions, probably of fear that I would not accept the way these animals are treated and eaten.

It is hard not to be sucked in into the beauty of the Catania fish market.

All in all: The Catania fish market is worth a little detour, its rustic ambiance and the fascinating offering and surroundings being the reasons.

The post Robust – Fish market in Catania, Sicily / Italy appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.