How I learned to cook whole fish, Sicilian style (and how you can, too)
This week, I was over at Simple Bites, discussing the open-air markets, which I love, and how I braved the fresh fish markets here in Italy. I also shared a recipe detailing how to cook whole fish, Sicilian style, which I learned to do while here.
I’ve arrived in the land of open-air markets, and I’m not quite sure how my husband is going to drag me onto the airplane that will take me away from this wondrous place.
For those blessed with access to a farmer’s market, you’ll understand my sentiments when I say the market is an easy place to delightfully lose track of time, sniff aromatic melons, smile at blushing red tomatoes, and fill your cloth shopping bags until you come home with a bounty like the one pictured above (the literal fruits of my first Sicilian shopping trip– local pistachios and almonds, three types of local cheese, salami to die for, and gorgeous seasonal produce).
There’s another side to these markets, however–one that even caught my children’s eyes (or rather, noses) when we first stumbled upon it. The fish stalls.
It’s not a sight that we’re used to in North America. My fish usually comes frozen in packages, bound up in cans (for salmon patties), or at the very least, laying clean on styrofoam, shrink-wrapped in plastic.
