Four seas surround Türkiye—the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean—and residents of the coastal cities are experts at preparing their catch. The best of the day’s haul is also rushed to Ankara, where some of the country’s finest fish restaurants are found.
Winter is the prime season for eating fish. That is when many species migrate from the Black Sea toward warmer waters and when most fish reach their full, mature size. The scarcity of summer vegetables in winter is more than offset by the abundance of fish. Each month brings its own preferred variety, along with certain vegetables that complement it. For example, the best bonito is eaten with arugula and red onions, bluefish with lettuce, and turbot with romaine.
Large bonito may be poached with celery root. Mackerel is stuffed with chopped onion before grilling. Summer fish, which tend to be younger and drier, are poached with tomatoes and green peppers or fried. Bay leaves always accompany both poached and grilled fish. Grilling fish over charcoal—where the juices drip onto the embers and the rising smoke envelops the fish—is perhaps the most delicious way to enjoy mature fish, since this method draws out the most delicate flavors. This is also why the grilled fish and bread sold by vendors right from their boats are so irresistible.
Hamsi (anchovy) is the undisputed prince of all fish known to Turks. The people of the Black Sea coast know at least forty different ways to prepare hamsi—a tradition documented as far back as the 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi—including hamsi börek, hamsi pilaf, and even hamsi dessert.
Another staple is the mussel, enjoyed deep-fried, poached, or as mussel dolma (stuffed mussels) and mussel pilaf. Along the Aegean coast, octopus and calamari are added to the meze spread.
The places to enjoy fish are fish restaurants and taverns (meyhane). Not all taverns are fish restaurants, but most fish restaurants double as taverns, and they are usually found along the harbors overlooking the sea. The Bosphorus is famous for its fisherman’s taverns, large and small, stretching from Rumeli Kavağı to Kumkapı. The modest ones are small, with wooden tables and rickety chairs, yet they serve delicious grilled fish. Then there are the elaborate, fashionable establishments in Tarabya and Bebek.
Fish restaurants always have an open-air section right by the water. Waiters shuttle back and forth between the kitchen—sometimes located inside a building across the street—and the seaside tables. After being seated, it is customary to visit the kitchen or the display counter to select your fish and discuss how you would like it prepared. The price is disclosed at that time. Then you stop by the meze display and choose what you want. And so the evening begins: sipping rakı between samplings of meze, watching the sunset, and slowly setting the pace for conversation that will continue hours into the night.