Tuesday = Fish

The disappearing fish shop is open on Tuesday and Friday mornings.  On the way back from trying on my shoes (!) I stopped in.  The fishmonger bellowed, "Buongiorno" with a broad smile as if I were a celebrity, and the crowd in the tiny shop all turned to stare.

Purchasing fish in this place is somewhat like participating in performance art.  The man talks the entire time in this rather unintelligible patois.  He smiles, and always puts a little extra in the package after weighing it.  He gives recipes (verbally, of course) to anyone who asks for them, and is delighted to tell you what he'd recommend.

Since there were several people ahead of me, I had the chance to enjoy a longer performance than usual.  Looking around, I saw an enormous (organic) spike sticking up vertically from the case.  After scrutinizing the object from around several Italian ladies, I identified it: a swordfish's head.  Which explained the 2-foot long chunk-o-fish that was also in the case separately.  At one point, he hefted the large chunk out (the remainder of the body complete with the tail).  As I was speculating how the customer could keep it fresh given the size of local refrigerators, the fishmonger seized his knife and vigorously whacked off a 1-cm slice.  Voila!  Swordfish steak! And the remaining body went straight back into the case.

He cleans any fish on demand, or of course one can take it whole or gutted.  Want your shrimp cleaned?  He can get through that chore lickety split.  Amazing.  And the whole time asking about the kids, your life, where you live, and so on.  It's exciting to see the scales flying!

Oh -- we're having sea bream for dinner.

Love, 

Alexandra