232 replies to this topic

[nickrey]

[nickrey]

[nickrey]

[nickrey]

Ok. That's it for that shop.

There are a number of others like it in the markets, as well as the wholesale side of the business and numerous other food shops and restaurants.

And if you're hungry after all that, here is a seafood platter from Nick's seafood just for you

[nickrey]

You must have got there very early...? I've never seen it that empty..of both people in the market and cars in the carpark!

Yep, it was around 8am.

[lights19]

What a fantastic selection! I'm envious of emptiness at the market. From a lurker, I've enjoyed the glimpse into your part of the world!

[nakji]

(Warning: horrible, fish-related pun) That's scads of fish!

Do you think they go through that much product daily? I'm so used to seeing fish held live in tanks, that I can't help but think some of those whole fish must lose a bit of their freshness - but maybe turnover makes that unlikely?

On another note: the Moreton Bay Bugs look positively primordial. Do you treat them like lobster?

[Pam R]

Amazing assortment - not something we see here, smack in the center of north America. What did you buy?

[nickrey]

Amazing assortment - not something we see here, smack in the center of north America. What did you buy?

lol, nothing.

I thought with all the seafood I'd been cooking it was time for a change of pace. I try to buy and cook fresh so did not want to buy something I wouldn't cook today.

It was simply a picture tour for my fellow eGulleters.

[ChrisZ]

I'm thoroughly enjoying Nick's blog, and as I live about 10 minutes away I'm thrilled to have been introduced to some great local businesses. I'll be heading to the Fourth Village Providore asap!

I can sympathise with overseas readers in regards to comparing prices (which is pretty much the first thing anyone does in a different country...) so as a point of comparison I noted a few fish prices at my local, normal, everyday supermarket. There's no way that the quality of supermarket fish compares to boutique outlets like Penny's, and a lot of it is imported rather than local, but the prices reflect that too. As wonderful as the Sydney fish market is, there's only the one and so most people will be buying their fish from their local supermarkets and fishmongers- and even dedicated fishmongers vary widely in quality. I don't think I've ever bought fish from a supermarket, but sometimes their prices on prawns are too good to pass up.

In kilograms, our supermarket had squid tubes for $14 (Penny's $37), flathead fillets $43 (Penny's $57), Atlantic Salmon fillets $30 (Penny's $43), and whole cooked prawns in a range of sizes from $10 - $30.
In US pounds, this equates to supermarket squid tubes $6.36 (Penny's $16.80), flathead $19.55 (Penny's $25.90), Atlantic Salmon $13.63 (Penny's $19.54) and whole cooked prawns from $4.54 - $13.63.

I won't bother doing the conversions for the prices at the Sydney fish market, but judging from the photos the market is cheaper and the produce is better. Which pretty much sums up the whole point of shopping at markets.

Am looking forward to more posts, it's been very inspiring...

[Pierogi]

Oh. My. Goodness.

I am seriously at a loss for words over the fabulous array of fish and seafood at DeCosti's. Wow. That is beyond incredible. The scallops in-shell are particularly drool inducing.

What's even MORE incredible to me, is that, in all of the Megalopolis that is the LA Basin, there are, two, count 'em, TWO, fresh fish markets of any note. One in Santa Monica and one in Newport Beach. Both about 30-plus miles from my home. In LA traffic.

I know some of the Asian markets have much more in the way of selection than the major chains, but still....we, as a state have a 700-plus mile coastline, and in roughly 200 miles of it (I'm thinking from Ventura to San Diego) we've got TWO freakin' fish markets? What up with that?

It's, I suppose, part of the corporate-ization and dumbing down of American mass marketing. I can remember when I first started shopping for myself seriously, I could get local sand dabs, local snapper, local spiny lobster, local scallops, local halibut, etc. Now....you get farmed tilapia, farmed "swai" (whatever *that* is), farmed salmon, frozen/defrosted farmed shrimp and maybe some halibut or cod. Maybe. Usually frozen/defrosted. And catfish. Needless to say, I don't eat much fish any longer.

*rant over*, we'll now return you to the utterly delightful foodblog of Nickrey. Suffice it to say, I'm absolutely flaming chartreuse with envy !

[ChefCrash]

Yeah.. but what?.. No Silverfin? Or Shanghai Bass? How about Kentucky Tuna?! Oh yeah! You gotta live in Michigan to get those!;)

Ohh! Mahhhhy! Gooohd!

[nickrey]

Thought it was time to go from surf to turf. Summer is great but the dishes tend to all be light and we use more seafood than other sorts of meat. Tonight we have something different.

Despite the trip to the seafood markets, I thought I’d stop off at the North Sydney markets to get some venison. Unfortunately the Mandagery Creek people weren’t there, so I settled on some lamb backstraps.

Now what to do with them? A form of baba ganoush with its eggplant should go well with it. What about other vegetables? Those Mediterranean vegetables I did earlier in the week (which was the first time I’d done them) should go well with the eggplant.

This was our main course, and of course I had to cook it sous vide.

For appetiser, I’ve really been wanting to try the Movida anchovies on toast with smoked tomato sorbet. Out with the ice-cream maker and on with the recipe. Basically, the dish comprises a crisp toasted piece of stale sourdough bread, topped with a special anchovy, some smoked tomato sorbet, and some soaked salted capers.



The entree was twice cooked duck in raviolo and five spice flavoured Asian broth.

The dish looked like this:





Now on to the main. We wound up having sous vide cooked lamb backstraps (55C at a few hours).
This was served on the hand-cut babaganoush and accompanied with char grilled vegetables.

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Edited by nickrey, 15 January 2011 - 06:09 AM.

[LindaK]

Nick, not to detract from your fine cooking, but some of us are still reeling from your fish market tour. The assortment and freshness are staggering.

Most of them were labeled as from Australia and New Zealand, it appeared. How healthy is the fishing industry in your part of the world? Are AU and NZ facing the same challenges that we are here in the north Atlantic re: overfishing?

[Prawncrackers]

It was simply a picture tour for my fellow eGulleters.

Thank you Nick, I'm fully sated now. All that was really from one shop? Amazing Stuff.

[Chris Amirault]

Picking up my jaw from the floor after that DeCosti photo tour.

Crickey.

As Pierogi said, we have nothing remotely comparable to that here in "the Ocean State," nor are there any comparable places north or south of here. Who shops there? All year round?

Crickey.

Meanwhile: twice-cooked ravioli means what? Beautiful food as always, Nick.

[paulpegg]

Nick,

I am new to Eg and am stunned at your fish market tour. I have never seen such a wide selection of great looking product. Here in central New Jersey we have plenty of Atlantic fish but I never seen a Bay Bug before. What are they?

I mostly cook fish that I catch myself. I fish in New York's East River and lower Hudson River for striped bass as they travel through to New England in the Spring and back down to the Chesapeake Bay in the Fall. here is a recent shot of one. We only keep what we eat and release the big females.

Attached Images

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[nickrey]

Nick, not to detract from your fine cooking, but some of us are still reeling from your fish market tour. The assortment and freshness are staggering.

Most of them were labeled as from Australia and New Zealand, it appeared. How healthy is the fishing industry in your part of the world? Are AU and NZ facing the same challenges that we are here in the north Atlantic re: overfishing?

Hi Linda,

Probably the best I can do is point you to the Sydney Fish Market's sustainability page which has some comments about Australian seafood practices.

Commercial fisherman have quotas. There are fishing exclusion zones in place and the courts take a dim view of people who violate these.

A summary of regulations in place and prosecutions can be found here.

[nickrey]

It was simply a picture tour for my fellow eGulleters.

Thank you Nick, I'm fully sated now. All that was really from one shop? Amazing Stuff.

Yes, all one shop.

[nickrey]

(Warning: horrible, fish-related pun) That's scads of fish!

Do you think they go through that much product daily? I'm so used to seeing fish held live in tanks, that I can't help but think some of those whole fish must lose a bit of their freshness - but maybe turnover makes that unlikely?

The high turnover takes care of this. The empty car park you saw is most unusual, as other locals have already commented.

[nickrey]

On another note: the Moreton Bay Bugs look positively primordial. Do you treat them like lobster?

I have never seen such a wide selection of great looking product. Here in central New Jersey we have plenty of Atlantic fish but I never seen a Bay Bug before. What are they?

I mostly cook fish that I catch myself. I fish in New York's East River and lower Hudson River for striped bass as they travel through to New England in the Spring and back down to the Chesapeake Bay in the Fall. here is a recent shot of one. We only keep what we eat and release the big females.

Nice looking fish Paul.

Moreton Bay Bugs are a species of slipper lobsters. Thanks to Wikipedia for telling me that the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization prefers the name flathead lobster, while the official Australian name is Bay lobster.

They are treated similarly to lobster when cooked. More information can be found here.

[nickrey]

Picking up my jaw from the floor after that DeCosti photo tour.

Crickey.

As Pierogi said, we have nothing remotely comparable to that here in "the Ocean State," nor are there any comparable places north or south of here. Who shops there? All year round?

Crickey.

Meanwhile: twice-cooked ravioli means what? Beautiful food as always, Nick.

The markets are open 365 days per year, with the period around Christmas being their busiest. When the heat can get up to 40C on Xmas day, more people are tending to move to lighter food rather than pretending they're in the Northern hemisphere.

Must change the name of that dish, which is one entirely of my creation. It's actually the duck that is cooked twice, being first a confit and then cooked in the broth in a pressure cooker until it is falling apart. I mix the duck with chopped scallions for texture, chopped shiitake mushrooms for body, egg white for binding, plus seasoning. The broth is Asian-inspired and addictive. How about Raviolo of twice-cooked duck in a five spice broth?

Edited by nickrey, 15 January 2011 - 03:43 PM.

[smallworld]

I live in Tokyo, have been to Tsukiji countless times, and am usually quite smug about the selection and quality of fish we get here compared to back home in Toronto. But your fish market pictures knocked my socks off. Thank you so much for going back to retake them.

Despite the trip to the seafood markets, I thought I’d stop off at the North Sydney markets to get some venison.

Stupid question: are there deer in Australia, or would that have been imported venison?

And what do Australians generally think about exotic meat and hunting? Given the very strong anti-whaling sentiments there, I'm wondering if horse meat, foie gras wild venison and the like are also taboo.

[Pierogi]

.....Must change the name of that dish, which is one entirely of my creation. It's actually the duck that is cooked twice, being first a confit and then cooked in the broth in a pressure cooker until it is falling apart. I mix the duck with chopped scallions for texture, chopped shiitake mushrooms for body, egg white for binding, plus seasoning. The broth is Asian-inspired and addictive. How about Raviolo of twice-cooked duck in a five spice broth?

Call it whatever you like, but don't call me late to dinner when you serve it Or that amuse with the smoked tomato sorbet....

[ChrisTaylor]

Stupid question: are there deer in Australia, or would that have been imported venison?

And what do Australians generally think about exotic meat and hunting? Given the very strong anti-whaling sentiments there, I'm wondering if horse meat, foie gras wild venison and the like are also taboo.

I'd say a lot of Australians, urban Australians anyway, are anti-hunting. Duck season always attracts much protesting and whinging. The process of getting a gun licence is very involved and there are strict requirements about how you store gun, what kinds of guns you can have, etc. Bows are largely free of regulation, but they're not something you find sitting in the local sports shop. There are strict regulations governing what you can and can't shoot. You can't just get a firearms permit and go out and shoot a 'roo for dinner. Supermarkets sell 'roo, though. I don't know how popular it is--I don't see many people buy it--but I guess it sells okay if your average suburban supermarket carries it. Some game/'exotic' meat, such as quail and rabbit, are sold fresh or frozen at a lot of poultry stores. In areas with a lot of Asians you'll get duck and silkie.

You can get a lot of game here, ranging from camel to buffalo to wallaby to possum to emu (had most of the meats you can legally buy in Australia, so I know the fun you can have getting them in), but most if it has to be ordered in. Only a couple of places stock this sort of stuff--and even then, never a huge range and never a huge quantity--fresh in-store. At least in Melbourne. If you do find something fresh, it's probably going to be venison steaks. It's expensive because demand is low and in the case of camel and buffalo, it has to be trucked in from the middle of nowhere, interstate. Quite a trip. Very few restaurants have this kind of stuff on their menu. Indeed, it's really unusual to see 'roo on a menu. I think people are reasonably accepting of the idea of eating venison, 'roo, pheasant and rabbit, although I know plenty of people who wouldn't touch any of them, but I think fewer people still would eat possum or horse.

A lot of our deer and wild boar--the vast majority of it--and probably our camel and such too, I guess, although I'm not too sure about that, is exported to Asia and Europe. Demand is low here. Especially for boar.

Foie gras production is illegal in Australia. You can't import anything but the pre-cooked/poached/canned stuff. The RSPCA and other animal rights movements would probably like even that to be banned but it hasn't cropped up in the media for a couple of years now--I guess they've forgotten about it and moved onto other issues.

Horse only recently became avaliable in Australia--legally--for human consumption. It'd always been avaliable for pet food but never for human consumption. Some Western Australian butcher got things rolling and was rewarded with death threats and such. One of my favourite restaurants in Melbourne, Embrasse, planned a horse degustation but cancelled it when they too got death threats. I had braised horse shanks as an off-the-menu special during a degustation at La Luna (after saying how much we liked the house-cured meats, we were quietly offered something ... extra) and it was lovely. But it was an off-the-menu setup for a reason.

Hope that gave you some insight. I mean, keep in mind, if you offered me a whale steak, I'd eat it, no question. I'd even seek it out.

Edited by ChrisTaylor, 15 January 2011 - 04:51 PM.

[djyee100]

Amazing assortment - not something we see here, smack in the center of north America...

Not something I've seen in the food mecca where I live. And if anyone in the SF Bay Area can point me to a fish market like that, pls do! The Asian markets carry a wider variety of seafood compared to the regular supermarkets, but the Asian markets can be careless about labeling and handling their fish, I regret to say. Nothing so well-organized and pristine like your fish market, Nick.

Thanks for a great blog.

[nickrey]

Breakfast on the last day.

As I mentioned up thread, my daughter has been working in her gap year before University as a head barista. The cafe is in our Foreign Affairs Department (equivalent to US State Department) and, as you can imagine, they like their coffee. She makes around 800-1000 coffees per day as an individual.

This is what she did with her coffee this morning pouring with milk I had frothed.



We then had buttermilk pancakes with ricotta, strawberries, home-made crème fraiche, and maple syrup.



We're off to Fourth Village for lunch.

Edited by nickrey, 15 January 2011 - 05:46 PM.

[nickrey]

I live in Tokyo, have been to Tsukiji countless times, and am usually quite smug about the selection and quality of fish we get here compared to back home in Toronto. But your fish market pictures knocked my socks off. Thank you so much for going back to retake them.

Despite the trip to the seafood markets, I thought I’d stop off at the North Sydney markets to get some venison.

Stupid question: are there deer in Australia, or would that have been imported venison?

And what do Australians generally think about exotic meat and hunting? Given the very strong anti-whaling sentiments there, I'm wondering if horse meat, foie gras wild venison and the like are also taboo.

The venison I was going to get is farmed.

Chris has covered your other question quite comprehensively.

[nickrey]

Thanks for a great blog.

You're most welcome, it's been fun doing it.

[nakji]

Ah, looking at that gorgeous coffee your daughter has made - here's another question to ask - why is coffee served in thick glasses in Australia? My favourite coffee/breakfast chain in Shanghai (Waga's) is Australian, and they serve theirs in the same sort of glass you have. But I've never seen it done anywhere else. Is it just the style?