Billingsgate Fish Market
Tuesday morning what should have been 16 of us were due to meet at the market for a guided tour of everything fishy. A few decided their beds were more inviting than an early trek across London to E14 but the majority of us were in white coats looking like doctors preparing to go on a hospital round.
We all met at Billingsgate Market Cookery School who were due to host us and show us around. At 6am when we all arrived the market had already been in full swing for a good few hours opening at 4 am and we were told that it closes down at around 7 to 7.30am ( other than Saturdays when it stops trading around 09.30am) so we needed to be quick if we wanted to see all of the sellers plying their trade. The market, whilst used by many commercial organisations (restaurants and the like) who may buy in bulk, is also open to the public. The prices are generally half of those in traditional markets and fish mongers – this I can confirm as I usually buy my fish from Borough Market and it was clear the prices were approximately half of those charged there.
The market was not as big as I had imagined and other students who had been to other markets – specifically Tokyo being cited – commented that it was quite modest in comparison. Even so there was enough to see for a 90 minute visit and we were guided around with stops at many stalls to talk about the types of fish on offer and given advice on ensuring we understood freshness and what to look for when purchasing.
Of course there was a large array of seafood for sale as well as fish, and we inspected the Lobsters, Crabs, Prawns and all the different molluscs you could imagine. Little tips were proffered, like Lobsters with blue tails are from UK (probably Scotland) , Yellow tails were Canadian. It’s illegal in UK to sell Lobsters with Eggs but you can sell Canadian. However you would not want to buy with eggs as they are much heavier and the eggs are pretty useless other than for garnish. We were shown the difference between male and female crabs and advised there is a lot more white meat in males. Also where and how Crabs carry their eggs. You should never boil lobsters alive as it stresses them out ( surprise surprise!) so either kill them by stabbing the back of the head, or stun them by freezing them for 20 mins or so before boiling.
Skate Wing
We saw Skate Wings that still had their mottled skin on, which is not how we usually see them, and many sizes of Cod and other Cod family members. Lots of other varieties, including a Doctor fish which had a little scalpel along its body.
Some interesting throw away facts – Scallops are fascinating ! Some change sex as they mature, and some are “ hermaphrodites” in that they are both male and female in the same shell ! They also have upto a 100 eyes around their fringe or mantle.
Tilipia, whilst native to Africa and being the fourth most popular eaten fish in the USA, is farmed in Dalston in big baths ! Now that’s real hipster ! I wonder if they have beards and ride vintage bicycles whilst supping on craft beer ?
Another great discovery was the enormous chest of drawers at the end of the market that contained – wait for it- drawers upon drawers of live eels ! What a novel way of keeping them and one we were all fascinated and surprised by.
In close proximity to the eels were all the salted fish – Bacalhau- or salt cod to you and I, and many others such as haddock which is stained yellow (using turmeric) more for tradition than anything else. It did help to disguise a slightly older fish in days gone by but apparently now people just expect to see the yellow colour.
Also at the end of the market were all the frozen fish and it was explained to us that some of these are very high quality, having been caught and cooked at sea and frozen immediately on the boat, and thereafter, docking at the harbour with the freshest frozen fish possible.
We all enjoyed our morning at the Market and although it translated to a long day and some tired faces later on in the kitchens, I think we all learnt something new and hopefully were inspired to try our hands at cooking a more varied selection of fish and seafood dishes over the coming weeks and months.