Gelisim News

Following the end of the fishing ban that started on April 15, the fishing season has recently started. The opening of the season brought along the questions of 'what should we pay attention to when buying fish', 'which variety is more beneficial to consume' and 'how to cook'. Providing information on the tricks of fish consumption, Istanbul Gelişim University Cookery Program Instructor and President of the Cookery School Alumni Association Levent Demirçakmak also explained that especially fish should be cooked in different time periods with different methods. 
 
Explaining why fish consumption is very important for our health, Levent Demirçakmak stated that fish is a very important nutrient for human body health and continued as follows; “Although they are a very good source of protein, they also contain at least 13 vitamins that should be in our body. Therefore, it is very rich in terms of both protein, vitamins and minerals that make up 4 percent of our body. It is a particularly good source of calcium and phosphorus. Another feature is that it contains omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which are only found in aquatic products, which are not found in other nutrients. The body cannot synthesize them. We can only buy from seafood. It causes very serious biochemical and biological changes in the body. Its protective and developing properties are known in diseases. Our consumption of fish will protect our body from many diseases such as some migraine pains, protection against diabetes in adults, high blood pressure, cholesterol.”
 
IT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE TO STRENGTHEN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
 
Adding that fish consumption is very important in order to strengthen the immune system, which we have mentioned more recently with the coronavirus, Demirçakmak said, “Although the water-soluble vitamins are the same as other animal-based products, the fat-soluble vitamins A, E and K vitamins are much more in fish. Vitamins A, E and K are vitamins that strengthen our immunity very much. When omega 3 is combined with fatty acids, we can only get it from fish, it has very serious positive effects on our body in terms of protective antioxidants and antibacterials.”
 
“STALE FISH SMELLS BAD”
Stating that we should be very sensitive about fish selection, Demirçakmak also gave information about how to understand fresh and stale fish. Demirçakmak stated that we can easily understand it from the eyes of the fish and said: “The eyes of a good and fresh fish are plump and lively. Strainers for fresh fish are open and brightly colored. When we hold the fish with our hands, its tail is upright. The eyes of the old fish are also collapsed and when you press the body part, it has lost its elastic structure. It is also true that the fish smell all over again. In other words, if the fish starts to spoil, a highly acidic odor starts to spread from the head to the whole body. When you press the body of fresh fish, it will keep its form. Stamps have not lost their vivid appearance. In fish that do not have scales, it has lost its lively appearance. Water is sprinkled on the fish to show the fish alive on the looms, but we can easily understand its freshness from there when we press it by touching its eyes and body.”
 
THE TIP OF COOKING; THE RIGHT TECHNIQUE AT THE RIGHT TIME
 
Reminding that fish should be consumed at least twice a week, Demirçakmak also made recommendations for the best cooking of fish. Emphasizing that the taste of fish can only be reached with the right method, Demirçakmak said: “Of course there are many different cooking techniques for fish, but it is necessary to use the right cooking technique at the right time. There are fish that we consume using heat, and there are fish that we cook without using heat. However, we can apply many different methods of cooking fish in deep frying, frying in a little oil or grilling. Finding the right cooking technique is a bit risky for seafood. With the wrong cooking, maybe we can cool people from those seafood. That's why we need to apply the right technique at the right time to get the most delicious result. For example, acorn has just come out, it has not been fully oiled yet. Normally, grilled bonito will be very tasty, but grilled bonito will be very hard and tasteless at this time. Therefore, oil cooking technique can be used. Like this, cooking it on the pan or grill according to the time will differentiate the flavor of our fish.”
 
Demirçakmak, who also gives examples of other fish species, briefly stated that each fish has different tastes at different times and said, “In the following periods, anchovies will be in full crispy time in December, and in January it is fully oiled. While we can cook it in deeper oil in December, we can cook it in a pan with much less oil in January. The horse mackerel is in the season again, we can cook it in deep oil, and the red mullet is approaching slowly in the same way, its season and the best cooking technique is in deep oil and in the oven. We can say something like this while cooking on the grill, especially when the sea bass, bream and bonito are oiled after a month, it is very delicious to cook them on the grill. Lightly flouring, then filtering the fish very finely with olive oil and throwing it on the grill will also prevent the skin from sticking.”
“HALVA CONSUMPTION AFTER FISH IS USEFUL FOR DIGESTION”
 
Stating that classical halva consumption after fish is also suitable for digestion, Demirçakmak said, “We recommend the consumption of halva after fish consumption, provided that it is not too excessive. Because tahini restores the balance of phosphorus in the body and stomach acid again, which makes us comfortable in terms of digestion.”
 
FISH DIMENSIONS MATTER FOR SUSTAINABILITY; "SMALLER SHOULD NOT BE SOLD OR BOUGHT!”
 
Lastly, Demirçakmak touched upon the issues that need to be considered in terms of sustainability in fishing and concluded his words with the following: “We should pay attention to the centimeters of the fish according to the declaration of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in order to ensure sustainability. We should not sell or buy smaller fish on our stalls. For example, the shield should be 40, bonito 25, anchovy 9 cm. These are very important criteria for the life and sustainability of our fish.”