Saturday Morning with La Diva at the Sydney Fish Markets!

Hey there, Crabby! Mr. Mud Crab waiting for his debut in a lovely Singapore chili crab dish!

Darlings, one of the things La Diva misses MOST about living in Sydney was their fabulous fish markets! The variety of whole fish, fish fillets and myriad seafood choices from vendor after vendor are truly dazzling!

Huh? But you live in Southern Florida, La Diva, what gives?

Well, darlings, the variety of fish available to us mere consumers is JUST NOT COMPARABLE to what's available to foodies in Sydney. Much of our waters have been over-fished (there currently is a ban on Grouper fishing!) and whatever isn't scooped up by pricey local restaurants, most of the best of our aquatic produce gets shipped to resorts in the Bahamas.

And that really TICKS A DIVA OFF.

Sigh...but what can you do?

When I'm back in Ol' Sydneytown, I make a point to get over to the fish markets! The array of fresh fish available is utterly amazing. It makes Diva wonder why we in Southern Florida only see a handful of varieties when so much is on offer in the waters of the South Pacific?

So, La Diva found herself planning a divinely decadent dinner of fish and seafood and trotted off with my bestie Fiona early Saturday morning to beat the crowds and get the freshest fish for a special night.

Conveniently located in Pyrmont, a suburb just the other side of Chinatown near downtown Sydney, this wholesale fish market is open to the public with both wholesale vendors as well as a retail building boasting restaurants and a variety of shops.

The Italians and the Greeks have it all wrapped up here with wholesalers Poulous Brothers, De Costi, Claudios and Musumeci Brothers.

Red Scorpionfish is just one of the cod varieties available at the markets. It's butt-ugly but it sure tastes good!

Another rock cod variety, the gold spotted red rock cod. They don't look very red or very much like their Scorpion fish cousins, do they? One thing is for sure, they look FRESH!

Fresh tiger prawns are highly coveted in Australia and the Japanese tourists love to devour them in a Godzilla like fashion when they visit here in droves. Notice the prices are in kilos (2.2 lbs.) NOT pounds.

While the wholesale part of the market has been jamming since the wee hours, the retail part is just getting started at 9 am on a Saturday morning and includes sushi bars and cafes, a bakery, a bottle shop, a deli and a fruit market.

A hungry customer can go to one vendor and order fish and chips, pick up a bottle of wine from the "bottlo" and a damper from the bakery and enjoy the lot under a pleasantly shaded table on the water outside. I told you Sydney life was civilized.

Imagine trying to keep your car clean in this parking lot!

You just KNOW La Diva HAD to get some Sydney Rock oysters while in town! De Costi offered me some little beauties from an area I was not familiar with and also from Sydney, both were rated AAA so I bought four dozen. I was not aware that they rated oysters in such a fashion but liked the guarantee that they would be fresh and first class in taste! They did NOT disappoint!

This lovely lady let me taste all the oysters before I bought them and La Diva greedily accepted even though it was early morning. Some were creamy, others briney but ALL were fresh and delicious!

My Greek pal spends his entire day shucking oysters. Sheesh~ that's some HARD YAKKA (or tough work) as the Aussie slang goes.

Quick digression: When La Diva lived in L.A. the fishmonger at Santa Monica Seafood refused to shuck oysters for me stating some kind of health law violation! HA! I was appalled and never shopped there again as La Diva never heard of such nonsense and merely thought him lazy. That's like a butcher refusing to de-bone a leg of lamb! I found that upscale grocer Bristol Farms was happy to accommodate.

Did you think these pretty little pink critters were prawns? Smelling only of the sea and blemish-free, these lovely langoustines or scampi are ready to be served up sauteed in butter and garlic!

When is the last time you saw so many varieties of WHOLE fish at YOUR local fishmonger or grocer? When I moved back to the States from Sydney, I asked my local fishmonger why I could only find a few varieties of whole fish available like snapper or trout? For some reason Americans in general have an aversion to buying, preparing and eating the whole fish. That's a shame, really, and leads to so much waste.

Yes, please, I'll take the lot!!! What shall La Diva do with them? Saute them with chorizo and simmer in a saffron broth? Or how about plunk them into a Thai green coconut curry? Or perhaps prepare them the Belgian way with blue cheese and white wine and a side of pommes frites? Any way you serve 'em up, La Diva will be slurping them up, guaranteed!

La Diva was in her glory! Did you think this place smelled fishy? It DID NOT. Fresh fish does not smell fishy but of the sea! (Click on the image to see the variety!)

Ah yes, the crustacean section, La Diva's favorite! See those odd prehistoric orange things in the foreground that look like small lobster? They are called "bugs" and are harvested off the coasts of Eastern Australia. One of my favorite ways to enjoy them is served with fluffy little pillows of gnocchi in a light, creamy gorgonzola sauce.....sigh.....Bugs are one thing I can never get enough of! (Of course you an click on all the photos to see up close, darling!)

Check out the variety of cuttlefish, squid and octopus! The Italians, Greeks and Asians love cooking with these cephalopods and so does La Diva!

All of the photos on this blog were taken at De Costi (My fave place) only. There are at least a dozen or more wholesalers selling a large variety of seafood just like De Costi. That's a LOT of fish.

A mere $89.99 a kilo for sushi grade tuna. Luckily, the Japanese didn't take it all and saved a bit for the locals...at a price!

Fish from the pristine waters off the New Zealand coasts makes it way to Sydney's vendors too.

Ah yes, this is the bivalve that caught La Diva's eye! Scallops on the half shell! These ran about $1.50 each but I HAD TO GET THEM as myriad ideas swirled in my Diva head!!

Want to know what divine dinner I made with the lovely seafood I bought? Stay tuned darlings, all will be revealed in an upcoming post!

For more info on the Sydney Fish Markets click here to check out my previous post! Ciao for now, darlings!

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