Residents of Turkey's coastal cities are experts in preparing fish. However, the best of the day's catch is immediately transported to Ankara, where some of the finest fish restaurants are located. Winter is the premium season for eating fish. That is the time when many species of fish migrate from the Black Sea to warmer waters and when most fish reach their mature size. So, the lack of summer vegetables is compensated by the abundance of fish at this time. Every month has its own preferred catch, along with certain vegetables which complement the taste. For example, the best bonito is eaten with garlic and red onions, blue fish with lettuce, and turbot with cos lettuce. Large bonito may be poached with celery root. Mackerel is stuffed with chopped onion before grilling, and summer fish, which are younger and drier, will be poached with tomatoes and green peppers or fried. Bay leaves always accompany both poached and grilled fish. Grilling fish over charcoal, where the fish juices hit the embers and envelope the fish with the smoke, is perhaps the most delicious way of eating mature fish since this method brings out the delicate flavour. 'Hamsi' is the prince of all fish known to Turks: the Black Sea people know forty-one ways of making hamsi including hamsi börek, hamsi pilaf and hamsi dessert! Another common seafood is the mussel, eaten deep-fried, poached, or as mussel dolma and mussel pilaf. The Bosphorus is famous for its fish restaurants, large and small, from Rumeli Kavağı to Kumkapı. After being seated, it is customary to visit the kitchen or the display to pick your fish and discuss the way you want it to be prepared.
