From Sea to Table

On Wednesday morning, we went to the Granada coast and toured a local farm where we sampled the farmer’s fresh fruit. During the afternoon, we traveled to the coastal town Salobreña. We spent time enjoying the rocky beach which was a nice break from the sandy coasts that we have here. The weather was beautiful, and a constant cool breeze cooled us off. The water was too chilly to swim in. The coast was very peaceful and relaxing. After the beach, we observed a typical fish auction in a building built next to docks. Twice a day, fisherman bring their catches to these docks where the fish are collected and sold in an auction-style fashion. We saw the fishing ships coming into the dock and immediately pull their catches out onto the platform to be rushed inside and placed in bidding bins. Each of the ships is specialized in trapping or catching a specific type of animal. As pictured, some of the boats rely on traps and others a net type. Local restaurant owners come to bid on the catch of the day to meet their needs. The catches are placed in bins that are put on a conveyor belt for the bidders to see and to decide what to bid on. Each bidder gets a little remote that has a button they press to bid on the bin of fish. It becomes a fast process as bidders compete for what is in the bins. Some of the fish were still alive as they were placed into the boxes to be bid on. That’s just how fresh it was! There were a variety of animals including octopus, shrimp, squid, and varieties of fish breeds. Truly nothing is wasted when it comes to food. Back in Granada, we visited a fresh local market that sold all types of produce and meat including seafood. We noticed the very same bins from the auction at the seafood booths. It is possible that the fish that was being sold came from the fish auction we observed. Each vendor in the market offered a variety of seafood options and typically the products were just laying on ice and not individually packaged. The products were also not in typical cuts, but just the whole fish or carcass. From a later experience of eating seafood at a restaurant, I learned that it is common for the fish to be served with the head and tail still attached.