The wild gender imbalance of the market’s workers and shoppers stood out most prominently in the dense crowd of the cafe. We were at the market for a full hour before I saw another female—a pair of ladies shopping and another tourist. While a bit jarring, the lack of women around did not seem to have any effect on how I, as a female, was looked at or treated. The market, though stuffed to the gills with blue crabs and yellow-striped fish, king prawns and sweet lobsters, is not very large. The parking lots on either side are teeming with pre-market fish sales. The west end is busier, and on the southwest corner is the Fish Market Cafeteria. The south side of the building is a fruit and vegetable market, very little of which is open this early. There are more outdoor vendors running along the northern, water-facing edge of the market, while inside row after row of fish vendor sells their wares.

These informal outdoor areas, like the indoor areas, were mostly pristinely clean. Men in spotless uniforms sold shimmeringly fresh fish, and the only thing conspicuously absent was the sort of smell one associates with fish. Each outdoor fish sale resulted in a mess of discarded fish parts, but uniformed cleaning people were close behind. Both indoors and out, though, the floors were wet with the quickly-melting ice on which hundreds of pounds of tuna, barracuda, and red snapper rested—wearing flip flops is highly recommended. Feet can be easily cleaned at the hotel; the canvas on your TOMS is more difficult.
When you arrive, the first order of business is to caffeinate. The best way to find a morning beverage is to ask someone who seems to be really enjoying whatever they are drinking. A man weighing out fish that bore a striking resemblance to Gill from Finding Nemo directed us to the (oh so creatively-named) Fish Market Cafeteria. The tea, the beverage of choice here, was murky and milky, warm, and oddly comforting despite the creeping heat of a soon-to-be 95 degree day.

“How many fish markets is it reasonable to visit on our honeymoon?” I asked my husband-to-be. “Three or four,” he answered, and I nodded. “A day,” he continued. This is why I married him. It’s also why we spent the first morning of our honeymoon, a mere 36 hours after our wedding, wandering the fish souk in Dubai.

Fish markets make an exciting travel stop for food lovers because they offer a glimpse into the local food culture and a peek at the everyday routines of the local food industry. If you have a strangely-timed layover (there’s not much else to do at six in the morning) or a weird case of jetlag (still awake at 5:15 a.m.?), the market’s early-morning hours may actually be convenient. At 5:15 a.m., when we arrived, most of the indoor stalls were set up, but an endless parade of fresh fish on ice was still being unloaded from vans, sorted, auctioned, and set up for display. Arriving this early is not a necessity (certainly, you’d get a great view of what’s going on arriving an hour later), but it’s interesting to catch the bustle and behind-the-scenes bargaining that goes on before the fish make it to the stalls.

With the exception of Tsukiji in Tokyo, Tekka Center in Singapore, and more consumer-oriented fish markets such as Seattle’s Pike Place Market, few fish markets are huge tourist draws. In Dubai, the vendors are friendly and excited that you are interested in their fish, even if you’re more likely to snap a photo than to purchase any actual seafood. Rather than shy away from the camera or grumble about your being in the way of paying customers, the fish souk vendors here volunteer—even request—to pose for your camera with their wares, straightening the shrimp tails and thrusting dead sharks and octopi into your hands to make the best possible photograph for you. The sun rising over the fish souk’s seaside location bathes it in a golden light as vendors start unpacking. These folks work in the shadows of the early morning, mostly selling fish to middlemen who then resell it to consumers, whether at a store or restaurant.

30 years of Turkish cuisine and values ​​to protect the projects developed Metro Turkey, for products grown using local seeds 100% purchase guarantee on the shelves of the product supplied from local producers to transmit to future generations the values ​​of veriyor.türk kitchen in the period up to meet with consumers, “Work Kitchen in” Metro which Turkey encourages the use of local seeds and sustainable agricultural practices, and provides 100% purchase guarantee for products grown using local seeds. It buys products belonging to a certain region from cooperatives and encourages cooperatives. It supports the cooperatives it works with in product selection, determination of product quantity, labeling and packaging and ensures that they reach a certain standard. Metro 99% of local suppliers of suppliers in Turkey and payment of suppliers accounted for 98% of the payments made to local suppliers.

Sales of geographically marked products increased by 53% and reached 330 million TL
Subway Turkey “Work in the Kitchen” as from the registration of geographical and product exports marked its support to all restaurant menus to be incorporated into the process of product, manufacturer, and creates a model that benefits the national economy. Geographical Indication of products with potential in Turkey; process until all exports from the EU of products that are not registered in the registration of Geographical Indication in Turkey is implementing. Since the number of candidates and registered Geographical Indication products in 2017 increased by 76% to reach 150 metro Turkey shelf. Sales of registered Geographical Indications and candidate products are increasing every year. Compared to 2017, the sales of Geographical Indicated products increased by 53% in 2019 and reached 330 million TL.

Great Support to Restaurants
The online food marketing company took responsibility for the single-branch restaurants that suffered during the difficult period we are in and put into use a financial support package of 20 million TL. In addition to offering advantages such as removing the commission for orders placed with the wallet payment method, it has implemented the Take-Out order service without any commission.
Yemeksepeti, which serves 18 million users with more than 35,000 member restaurants, has announced a 20 Million TL Support Package with the aim of alleviating the financial burden of restaurants that can only serve their customers with take-away and take-and-take orders with new restrictions.

As part of the package, Yemeksepeti has updated its monthly payments to restaurants every 15 days by increasing its monthly payments, and removed the listing fee during the restriction period. On the other hand, Yemeksepeti, which puts users’ orders through Yemeksepeti and puts the Take-Out order option, which takes their meals from the restaurant themselves, with 0 commission in this period, aims to create a “0” cost revenue item for restaurants with this new application. In addition to all these, no commission fee will be charged for orders placed using the Wallet application on Yemeksepeti.

Yemeksepeti, which takes responsibility not only for the restaurants it works with but for the whole sector, will also support the projects to be developed by the sector organizations with a fund of 2 million TL.

8 Hours of Effort

The tradition of Ramadan Keskek, which has been kept alive for centuries in Iskilip district of Çorum, continues. It is an indispensable part of the iftar meals in Ramadan. While the Keskek bakeries in every neighborhood of İskilip continue to witness this tradition, there is great interest in the bakeries during the iftar hour. Social distance is especially emphasized this year in the keşkek bakeries, which have overflowed in recent years.

Included in UNESCO’s “intangible cultural heritage” list, the 8-hour flavor journey ends at iftar tables. Iskilip Keşkek no longer know almost all of Turkey’s reputation. Keskek, one of the special dishes of İskilip, is the second longest-cooked local dish of the city after the famous İskilip Dolması. I wish it attracts so much attention for bakery owners. Keskek bakeries, which work one month a year, try to provide all kinds of opportunities to their customers to close this month in the most profitable way.

Stating that I wish is one of the sine qua non for İskilip, the educator Sabri Çiçekci said that this should be considered as a food culture.

Expressing that İskilip has a very rich and different food culture, Çiçekci said, “İskilip’s meals are cooked for a very long time. For example, our famous dolphin takes 12-13 hours. We wish from morning until evening. The baklava, which will come after this, is cooked again from evening to morning. İskilip Keskeği is unlike many of the food types in Anatolia and the district. In many provinces and districts in our region, there is keskek production. But we wish it was very different, ”he said.

Countdown to the 4th International Adana Taste Festival
“Turkey’s First Digital Taste Festival” which is characterized Adana 4th International Festival of Taste, in October 9-10-11 “with the island Inspiring All Colors” will be held with the theme.

Organized without a physical meeting in line with pandemic measures, the festival will include kitchen workshops, gastro shows, interviews and panels reflecting Adana’s traditional culinary riches. The festival will go beyond the borders of Adana and bring all the colors of the city to large audiences in the digital world. The festival, which will be organized under the auspices of the Adana Governorship, aims to introduce Adana’s gastronomic values ​​to the whole world.
Underlining that Adana has become a city of taste with its rich culinary culture, Adana Governor Süleyman Elban said, “Our country and the whole world have entered a different period due to the pandemic. In this new period, maximum level of isolation and hygiene measures are also on our agenda. Our festival, which will be held by paying attention to social distance, will introduce Adana’s local gastronomic values ​​to the whole world. As part of the festival, we will host many famous chefs in our city and host different events. This year, we will carry the enthusiasm of our festival to digital, as our people cannot be present in the event areas due to pandemic measures. “I sincerely thank our chefs, opinion leaders, non-governmental organizations, journalists, representatives of the digital media, Adana Metropolitan Mayor and District Mayors, and all other institutions and organizations that support us, who will participate in the 4th International Adana Taste Festival.” Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan Karalar made the following statements about the festival: “The International Adana Taste Festival plays a very important role in creating a wide awareness about Adana’s rich cuisine culture. Although we cannot meet our people in the festival area this year, we will ensure the sustainability of this important event by using the opportunities of the digital world. I believe that the International Adana Taste Festival, which will be held under the auspices of the Adana Governorship, will make a great contribution to the promotion of our city. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our festival. “

30 years of Turkish cuisine and values ​​to protect the projects developed Metro Turkey, for products grown using local seeds 100% purchase guarantee on the shelves of the product supplied from local producers to transmit to future generations the values ​​of veriyor.türk kitchen in the period up to meet with consumers, “Work Kitchen in” Metro which Turkey encourages the use of local seeds and sustainable agricultural practices, and provides 100% purchase guarantee for products grown using local seeds. It buys products belonging to a certain region from cooperatives and encourages cooperatives. It supports the cooperatives it works with in product selection, determination of product quantity, labeling and packaging and ensures that they reach a certain standard. Metro 99% of local suppliers of suppliers in Turkey and payment of suppliers accounted for 98% of the payments made to local suppliers.

Sales of geographically marked products increased by 53% and reached 330 million TL
Subway Turkey “Work in the Kitchen” as from the registration of geographical and product exports marked its support to all restaurant menus to be incorporated into the process of product, manufacturer, and creates a model that benefits the national economy. Geographical Indication of products with potential in Turkey; process until all exports from the EU of products that are not registered in the registration of Geographical Indication in Turkey is implementing. Since the number of candidates and registered Geographical Indication products in 2017 increased by 76% to reach 150 metro Turkey shelf. Sales of registered Geographical Indications and candidate products are increasing every year. Compared to 2017, the sales of Geographical Indicated products increased by 53% in 2019 and reached 330 million TL.