The sea is so generous with her seemingly infinite offerings of tasty morsels— something that the Portuguese and the Turks take full advantage of. I recently enjoyed a pleasant lunch with the family at our favourite fish restaurant, where over a dollop of salty tarama, I found myself lolling around in the memory of a feast Pedro and I treated ourselves to while in Portugal over the holidays. We dined on gooseneck barnacles and sea snails, prying soft flesh out of intricately twisted and spired structures— and there was crab. Sweet, tender crab. That alien, orange speckled exoskeleton with threatening thorns that beg the question, who was that first person who decided to crack this thing open for a snack?
While the Portuguese feast relied on the natural flavours of the meats and sea, the Turkish feast pictured below, made use of spices and buttery sauces. Stuffed mussels, tarama, aubergine purée, a sliver of raw lakerda fish as pink as a rose petal...
Cornbread, spicy shrimp, and the most exquisite grilled kalamari. I swear I was a sea bird in a former life.
A Black-browed albatross, perhaps.
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