A FISH POOL FOR EVERY YALIDuring the time of the Ottoman Empire the great and powerful began living on the Bosphorus in fine shoreline houses known as yalis, and this practice led to the development of new habits connected with the sea. Since transportation was by caique, all these homes had a boathouse and right beside it a pool which contained live fish held in by mesh that allowed the sea water to wash in and out.

In those days the chief form of entertainment for residents in these fine yalis was to go out fishing, so in their homes they had every sort of gear and eq uipment necessary for this pursuit. In addition, each yali employed an expert fisherman and a chef who knew how to cook fish dishes. It will be obvious from all this that, for the elite of the Ottoman era, fish constituted a social way of life. Indeed, every week the owners of these shoreline houses would give a banquet at which fish alone was served, in various guises. Furthermore, when they caught fish it was a fine point of courtesy to send part of the catch to the neighboring yali. As an example, 'lüfer' (blue fish) would be sent to the neighbors in a basket spruced up with greens. And the best place to catch the blue fish was Kanlica.

In those days there was a greater variety of fish dishes than we have now, and much different ways of cooking them. There were the stuffed varieties known as dolma, stews cooked with olive oil, fish soups, smoked fish, pickled fish, fish cooked by covering them with ashes, shell fish, grilled liver of 'Kalkan' (turbot)... These are just a few of the fish recipes we could mention. We leave you with some recipes for cooking fish, the few that space allows.