I have been to several fish markets to watch the process of fishermen unloading catch and wholesalers, retailers, and consumers haggling over fish and prices. In Hawaii, I was blown away by the large amounts of tuna and billfish (relatively large fish) that were brought in by the fishermen. To see some pictures and read the Duke blog about this class in Hawaii click here. In Fortaleza, I was amazed by all the shrimp and snapper (see earlier blog in January on fish market)The fishmarket in Praina, my home town here in Brazil, is an entirely different manner. The fish market is based around the tide table. At high tide, the boats return from being out at sea, sometimes for up to three days! Can you imagine on this tiny little boat? Other fishermen help to drag the boat up onto the beach while the waves crash in the background.
After the boat is safely up on the beach, the crowds, although when I say crowd I don't mean the 50 to 100's of people you'd see at the Hawaiian fish market, I'm talking about 10-15 maybe 20 people on a crazy day, that gather around to see the catch. In the crowd, you have a combination of people, children, teens, father's, mother's and even grandmother's there to inspect the day's catch. About half the crowd is from the local restaurants there to inspect the best of the best, to buy fish for the beach going crowds. Another large part are the locals trying to buy good fish for dinner that night. And a small majority, myself included, are merely onlookers.
The biggest shock, or biggest difference, at this fish market, at least for me, is the size of the fish. These fish are TINY! Small! Nowhere near the size of any fish I saw in the Hawaii fish market, the Boston fish market, the DC fishmarket or any other's I've been to. Another shocker was to see that this one fishermen had a catch of eels! I have never heard of people eating moray eel! Crazy, but I guess they do here in small coastal towns. I asked several people standing around me how they cook it, and couldn't get a consensus. Although it does make me wonder what fish I am eating , when I eat fish stews here!
I watched the fishermen filet and gut the fish. An interesting practice was that several little boys lined up to put fishing line through about 10 fish each, then tied up the fishing line and started walking around trying to sell the fish to people on the beach. One fishermen had caught a huge ray. Stingray stew, muqueca de arraia (moo-kay-ka de hiya), is a popular beachside dish all up and down the coast of Ceara. I watched him gut the stingray and then carry it off to one of the beach side restaurants. Talk about fresh fish! Yumm!
After the boat is safely up on the beach, the crowds, although when I say crowd I don't mean the 50 to 100's of people you'd see at the Hawaiian fish market, I'm talking about 10-15 maybe 20 people on a crazy day, that gather around to see the catch. In the crowd, you have a combination of people, children, teens, father's, mother's and even grandmother's there to inspect the day's catch. About half the crowd is from the local restaurants there to inspect the best of the best, to buy fish for the beach going crowds. Another large part are the locals trying to buy good fish for dinner that night. And a small majority, myself included, are merely onlookers.The biggest shock, or biggest difference, at this fish market, at least for me, is the size of the fish. These fish are TINY! Small! Nowhere near the size of any fish I saw in the Hawaii fish market, the Boston fish market, the DC fishmarket or any other's I've been to. Another shocker was to see that this one fishermen had a catch of eels! I have never heard of people eating moray eel! Crazy, but I guess they do here in small coastal towns. I asked several people standing around me how they cook it, and couldn't get a consensus. Although it does make me wonder what fish I am eating , when I eat fish stews here!I watched the fishermen filet and gut the fish. An interesting practice was that several little boys lined up to put fishing line through about 10 fish each, then tied up the fishing line and started walking around trying to sell the fish to people on the beach. One fishermen had caught a huge ray. Stingray stew, muqueca de arraia (moo-kay-ka de hiya), is a popular beachside dish all up and down the coast of Ceara. I watched him gut the stingray and then carry it off to one of the beach side restaurants. Talk about fresh fish! Yumm!
It was an interesting experience watching this small beachside town in Brazil carry out it's fish market in comparison to the larger, bigger, fish markets even in Fortaleza or the US. A memorable experience and for me, a charming characteristic of life in a beachside town in northeast Brazil.
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