This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
Whether it’s simply cooked Arctic char or Caribbean conch ceviche, explore a bountiful catch of seafood specialities from coastal communities around the globe. Our menu is fresh, light and sum mery, but it also includes some fiery options, including Singaporean chilli crab and Sri Lankan fish curry.
1. Oysters, Japan
To many people, oysters are the epitome of haute cuisine, and that’s certainly the case in Japan. The country’s almost 400 Michelin-starred restaurants are awash with them, typically served raw, garnished citrus-spritzed and presented on an iced platter. But in Japan’s izakayas — a food venue that straddles the line between a gastropub and a tapas bar — you’ll find ‘kaki’ (oysters) served without a shard of ice shard in sight. Instead, the bivalves come cooked, sometimes even wrapped in bacon. For these oysters, the customary gulp won’t do. These are a treat even the oyster naysayer can savour.
Believed to have been eaten in Japan since the Jōmon period (beginning around 13000 BCE), oysters have become a millennia-long staple for the masses. And for all its reputation as a nation of raw seafood-lovers, Japan consumes more cooked oysters than uncooked, and they’re far from pretentiously prepared. Hiroshima is the largest domestic producer; many families here buy them by the kilo from markets, ready to cook at home throughout the winter in hotpots.
Often smoky from the grill and always informal, izakayas are beloved not just because of their welcoming, local atmosphere, but because their food is consistently delicious. And the variety of oysters served in them is huge — from creamy buttery kaki cooked in foil to oyster hotpot and the nationwide favourite, kaki-furai — breadcrumbed then deep-fried.
Where to try it: Many of Japan’s best izakayas can be hard for visitors to track down, including Tokyo’s Manma Izakaya, which is around a three-minute walk from Higashi-shinjuku station. Hiroshima’s Siki-Sai and Ekohiiki, and Tokyo’s Wabu are all excellent oyster-filled alternatives.
2. Arctic char, Canada
Across Canada’s Arctic north, one fish rules the waves: Arctic char. Indigenous peoples here have been eating it for millennia, many travelling to set up char fishing camps throughout the year. It’s enjoyed fermented, dried (pipsi), boiled, smoked, raw or even frozen (quak).
Raw arctic char is known for its mild flavour and succulent fatty flesh.
Photograph by Alamy
Part of the same family as trout and salmon, char is found in alpine lakes and coastal waters around the Sub-Arctic and Arctic. Like salmon, some species return from saltwater life to their freshwater birthplace to spawn, although the Arctic char is arguable hardier given that it’s the northernmost freshwater fish. While increasingly rare in other countries, char thrive in Canada’s freezing, pristine waters, where they require less food than they do in warmer climes. They also gather together in winter, making them well suited to growing in densely packed farms — a sustainable and space-conscious crop.
Char flesh, flavour and scale colour varies depending on the season and environment. They’re a surprisingly beautiful fish, becoming silver in the sea before their backs darken and bellies ripen into red-orange. Mild in flavour and similar to trout, char’s fatty flesh is succulent while its delicate skin goes deliciously crisp.
Where to try it: Nordic and UK farmed Arctic char is readily available in the UK; Canadian stock can be found at select fishmongers. Learn about Inuit use of Arctic char on TV show Nunavummi Mamarijavut.
3. Conch, the Caribbean
The Caribbean’s prize conch (pronounced conk) species is fittingly known as queen conch. A great marine snail found on dinner tables across the region, queen conch is one of the Caribbean’s most valuable seafood species. They’re often farmed, but in the wild conches are plucked from sandy seagrass beds by scuba- or free-divers. Fishermen can often clear an entire area of the molluscs in one swoop, leaving them prone to overfishing, which is why seasonal and geographical limits have been introduced across the Caribbean. Research into sustainable conch farming and restorative aquaculture will soon prove vital for countries like Belize, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Honduras, where it’s central to the economy and cuisine.
In the Bahamas, conch’s lightly sweet meat is often served in salads, soups and as fritters. In Jamaica, Haiti and Grenada it’s commonly found in curries or spiced stews, while in the Grenadines it’s barbecued on the beach and in Puerto Rico it’s used in ceviche.
Where to try it: Find conch fritters and Bahamian-style ceviche in seaside shacks and cafes in Nassau, including Goldie’s Conch House.
4. Fish curry, Sri Lanka
Rice with curry is considered Sri Lanka’s national dish but its parameters are far from set. Ingredients flow with the seasons or the day, but fish forms the basis of many of its most popular iterations. Sri Lanka is a hive of fresh and saltwater fishing, its indigo seas full of tuna, mackerel and marlin, reefs of snapper and barracuda and backwaters hiding tilapia and golden barramundi.
Fish is indispensable here, feeding families and producing massive trade income. Much of the day’s catch can make a classic fish curry; the only requirement is that the flesh is firm and doesn’t flake apart during cooking. Sri Lankan curries sing with sour flavours including lime and tamarind. These sit alongside spices and aromatics such as garlic, pandan, fenugreek, cumin and cinnamon, all swirled into creamy, oil-flecked coconut sauces. There are two main fish curry types, milder kirata and spicy mirisata, but ambul thiyal is a particularly sour version that’s traditionally used to preserve fish.
Where to try it: For exemplary fish curry, head to the Ceylon Curry Club, in the Dutch Hospital region of Colombo.
Crawfish can be found in the traditional Lousiana dishes of gumbo stew, po’boy sandwiches, seafood jambalaya and étouffée.
Photograph by Eric Raptosh, Getty
5. Crawfish, Louisiana, US
Louisiana is undoubtable the crawfish (crayfish) state: it was the first to name a crustacean and is home to numerous crawfish festivals. What’s more, with over 1,300 crawfish farmers and 1,000 fishermen, it’s the top crawfish producer in the US.
Come Easter, its streets are rich with shellfish aromas as many families gather for huge crawfish boils — a Cajun meal usually complete with sausage, corn and potatoes that’s become a popular celebratory dish.
Two species of the crustaceans have been commercially harvested here since the 1800s, although its history here goes back way further, as Native Americans used to catch them using deer meat tied to reeds. When Acadians, exiled from Atlantic Canada, settled in Louisiana in the 18th century, crawfish became an abundant staple for poorer communities — only gaining wider appreciation in the 20th century.
Also called crawdads, crawfish crop up in classic gumbo stew, po’ boy sandwiches, seafood jambalaya and étouffée. They also star in Vietnamese-inspired crawfish boils, popularised over the border in Houston, Texas.
Where to try them: Crawfish harvests were hit hard in 2023-24, due to severe weather fluctuations, but Mrs Rose’s B&B in Lafayette usually offers cooking classes and crawfish excursions.
6. Matjessalat, Germany
The brined fish base for matjessalat began not in Germany but the Netherlands, in the closing years of the 14th century. A Dutchman was the first to preserve fresh ‘virgin’ or young herring in brine — the name matjes comes from the Dutch word for maidens. The following six centuries saw matjes gild entire cities through trade, birth festivals and even feature on coats of arms — what’s more, they’ve since become a north German staple.
These young herrings are caught from early to mid-summer in the North Sea, just before their breeding season begins, and are prized for their high oil content. They work wonderfully well in this German salad with the tart, vinegary flavours of apple, pickles, beetroot and the soured creaminess of creme fraiche or yoghurt.
Unlike most fish preparations, the pancreas, and occasionally the liver, are left inside the herring, as their enzymes develop the flavour and help make the already soft flesh more tender. Matjes are found throughout the Baltic, Nordic and Low Countries under a wealth of names and with variations in the marinade; some contain cider, sugar, bay, mace, onion, wine or even tea.
Where to try it: Der Kleine Heinrich Gasthaus, in the Schleswig-Holstein town of Glückstadt, serves several traditional matjessalat dishes.
7. Chilli crab, Singapore
The crammed lanes of Singapore’s hawker stalls are frequently laced with the intoxicating smell of seafood — chief among them, the spicy scent of chilli crab. Arguably the country’s best-loved dish, it had a nebulous — occasionally contentious — beginning.
Many say the dish began life in Malaysia, but Singaporeans understandably disagree, citing a clear origin story for the modern-day tomato-based dish. In the 1950s, Cher Yam Tian’s husband, who loved catching mud crabs on the beach, asked her to do something different with the day’s haul. The resulting tomato and chilli concoction was so good they began selling it from a seafront street cart, taking Singapore by storm.
Originating in Singapore in 1950, chilli crab is one of the country’s signature dishes.
Photograph by Stockfood
Over the years, chefs have introduced their own elements, with sambal or lemon, egg or vinegar added to an unctuous spiced sauce that’s both savoury and sweet. Served shell-on and slathered in sauce, chilli crab is impossible to eat with any dignity. The only way to approach it is with hands, mallets, bread buns and myriad serviettes at the ready, but the silky, sumptuous reward is worth it.
Where to try it: Though Cher Yam Tian died last year, her son Roland Lim is honouring her dish at his Michelin-recommended restaurant, Roland, which still uses her secret recipe.
8. Bacalhau, Portugal
Portugal’s enduring love of bacalhau (dried salted cod) dates back to the Age of Discoveries, when the country’s 15th-century explorers sailed out into a world largely unmapped. Sardines are abundant in the waters around Portugal, but don’t lend themselves well to being salted. Cod, however, does — and with the discovery of vast reserves of the fish around the distant shores of Newfoundland in 1497, bacalhau became the seafarer’s staple diet.
Today, Portugal consumes 20% of the world’s cod, and according to legend, it has anywhere between 365 and 1,001 dishes using bacalhau. Cod’s dense, flaky, versatile flesh becomes concentrated in drying, the perfect ingredient to stand up to dishes like bacalhau com natas (baked cod with cream), egg and olive casserole, and arroz de bacalhau (cod with rice).
Cod shares the Portuguese piscatorial crown with sardines — a beautifully meaty, umami-filled fish found the length of Portugal’s coast. Versatile and affordable, sardines are commonly grilled, canned or served in abundance as a sardinhada feast. In fact, if they weren’t seasonal, they may well have beaten cod to national dish status.
Where to try it: In Lisbon, you can explore a remarkable array of bacalhau dishes at D’Bacalhau restaurant, while Can The Can showcases sardines and Portugal’s masterly art of canning fish.
9. Green-lipped mussels, New Zealand
Named for their shells’ myrtle-green border, these mussels are native to New Zealand’s coastline. They’ve been industrially farmed since the 1960s, after overfishing destroyed wild mussel stocks, but have been part of Māori culture for centuries. Known as ‘kūtai’ in Māori, the bivalves are such an important, traditional food source, they’re considered a ‘taonga’ (a valued treasure) — and Mātauranga Māori (traditional Māori knowledge) has informed scientific restoration of mussel beds in the North Island’s Ōhiwa harbour.
Some believe the endemic mussels have anti-inflammatory health benefits, a link supposedly made when comparing arthritis prevalence in coastal Māori communities to people living inland. Their naturally occurring levels of omega-3 and vitamin B12 also mean they’re often made into supplements.
But the most enjoyable way to ingest green-lipped mussels, by far, is to eat them. They thrive along New Zealand’s intertidal and coastal zones, where the clean, phytoplankton-rich seas create a juicy meat that’s tender and salty with a touch of sweetness. And farming them means that natural ocean populations aren’t depleted, keeping the industry sustainable.
Where to eat them: Tuck into green-lipped mussels at The Mussel Pot in Havelock, the so-called ‘mussel capital of the world’, in the South Island’s Marlborough Sounds.
10. Fried seafood, Symi
In Greece’s sunlit Dodecanese island group, scattered off the west coast of Turkey, sits Symi. This small island with a long, strong history of seafaring and seafood was once known for its shipbuilding and sea sponge industries; today, the sponges are all but gone and the new marine mainstay is shrimp.
Known as Simiako garidaki, the tiny, vibrantly red prawns that live in the waters around Symi are the island’s speciality. They’re flavourful enough that they’re usually served simply — pan-fried until crisp, usually in olive oil, and seasoned with only a dash of salt and pepper — but occasionally you’ll find chefs branching out by tossing them in flour before frying or adding garlic or a squeeze of lemon.
The prawns are so small, soft and delicate that they’re eaten whole, in the shell, the heads and tails offering a delightfully deep hit of sweetened sea and salt and adding a crunch to the bite.
These prized prawns aren’t Symi’s only culinary draw, however — the island does a roaring trade in all manner of fried seafood, including silky soft calamari, lightly fried anchovies, crispy whitebait and succulently juicy cod fritters, often flavoured with just a touch of fresh lemon.
Where to try it: Most of the island’s local tavernas serve fried seafood, including the ever-popular Taverna Haris in Gialos.
At St.Dogmaels local producers’ market, Mandy of Cadigan Bay Fish sells sewin every Tuesday morning when it’s in season.
Photograph by James Bowden
11. Sewin, Wales
Migratory trout that swim in West Wales’s tidal estuaries and rivers, sewin tend to be fatter and firmer than the taxonomically identical brown trout. The peak season for catching them is short — June and July — and only a handful of fishermen have licences.
When caught using the traditional Welsh method of coracle fishing, sewin hold PGI status, and the practice is much as it would’ve been in pre-Roman times, using a pair of coracles — round, basket-like boats woven from local willow or carved from ash, with a net strung between them. Fishing happens at neap tide and at twilight (described by Welsh coracle fishermen as ‘clyfwchwr’, or when seven stars can be seen in the sky), so the sewin don’t see the shadows of coracles or net. It requires well-honed skill and stealthy silence from two fishermen, who paddle rhythmically in a figure of eight, drawing in the net with perfect synchrony. It’s all worth it, they say, for the distinctive, delicate, sweet flavour of the pink-fleshed fish. Simplicity in cooking is the way to go — pan-fry it with a little butter and lemon and serve with Pembrokeshire new potatoes and perhaps some samphire or laver.
Where to try it: Len, a coracle fisherman for 30 years, and his wife Mandy, both of Cardigan Bay Fish, sell sewin at St Dogmaels local producers’ market on Tuesday mornings in season. If your luck is in, sewin are also on the menu at The Ferry Inn nearby.
12. Cacciucco, Tuscany, Italy
Tuscan cuisine is synonymous with red wines, meaty pastas and bean stews, but get beyond Italy’s iconic medieval hill towns and you’ll find a stretch of seafood-rich coast. The port town of Livorno, between Pisa and the beaches of the Maremma Park, hosts one of Europe’s largest indoor markets, whose sprawling seafood pavilion offers prized Tuscan bottarga di muggine (cured mullet fish roe, sliced as an appetiser or grated onto pasta), octopus, lobster, sea bream, sea bass and cuttlefish, the latter favoured for spaghetti or risotto al nero di sepia (‘black with cuttlefish ink’).
Livorno’s dark-red, Tuscan fish stew traditionally contains five types of seafood.
This seafood spread forms cacciucco, a dark-red Tuscan fisherman’s stew whose name is thought to derive from the Turkish word ‘küçük’ (‘small’), referencing the size of the fish pieces used. Cacciucco traditionally contains five types of seafood — one for each ‘c’ in its name: octopus and squid or cuttlefish go into the pot to cook first, with delicate mussels, clams and prawns later added to the rich tomato sauce.
Where to try it: Chef Michelangelo Rongo serves an exemplary cacciucco, complete with garlic-toasted Tuscan bread, at Restaurante Aragosta, in Livorno’s pretty portside Piazza dell’Arsenale.
13. Éclade de moules, Charente-Maritime, France
This curious dish is served in restaurants in France’s Charente-Maritime — a region better known for its Marennes oysters — and it follows a smoky ritual like no other. Mussels are arranged in a beautiful concentric pattern on a plywood board, hinge-side up, then covered in long, skinny pine needles gathered from the nearby beaches, where maritime pines tower over the coastline. The needles are then set alight, creating a small bonfire on top of the mussels and poaching them in their own juices, ensuring a deliciously smoky flavour.
Once cooked, the mussels are served with bread and garlic butter, along with a chilled glass of the local wine, muscadet sur lie.
Locals will tell you the tradition developed among the area’s shellfish farmers and fishermen to provide a meal at the end of the working day, when they would arrange the bivalves on the ground (‘terre’ in French) — the key to their traditional name, terrées de moules.
Where to try them: At Le Parc des Graves, in the pretty village of Mornac-sur-Seudre, you’ll likely see the smoke before you see the restaurant.
14. Scallops, Maine
Though better-known for its lobster, Maine produces exceptionally sweet, creamy and sustainable scallops — but it wasn’t always so. In the mid-2000s, US scallop landings were so low that the industry essentially collapsed. Restrictions to rebuild stocks meant fishermen saw some areas closed indefinitely to scallop fishing, others rotationally closed and a moratorium on new fishing permits. The state still controls fishing today, with periodic restrictions to prevent overharvesting (as is the case for the final two-thirds of this year) and its scallops have bounced back in an astounding way.
Maine has also seen a swell in scallop aquaculture in the past couple of decades. Wild scallop fishermen have turned to farming, using lantern nets or line-grown methods, allowing year-round production.
Today, Maine’s Atlantic sea scallops are one of the most valuable fisheries in the US. The cool, crisp Atlantic produces sparklingly fresh seafood, and flowing water around line-grown scallops allows them to feed constantly, growing fat and delectably fleshy.
Where to try them: Try Downeast Dayboat’s line-grown Maine scallops at Reverence in Harlem, New York where they have featured in the likes of ceviche with a corn ‘leche’ (milk).
15. Lakerda, Turkey
Turkey’s cooler winters see fatty, protein-rich torik (Atlantic bonito) migrating down the great blue curves of the Bosphorus. As fishermen pull in their silver-blue catch, those measuring the ideal 60-70cm — approaching their maximum length — are set aside for making lakerda.
Lakerda has a number of origin stories. The name is said to derive from the Byzantine Greek word for mackerel, but there’s also a popular belief that Sephardic Jews brought it to the Ottoman Empire from Spain.
Popular in both Greece and Turkey, particularly in the latter’s Şile muncipality, it draws on a centuries-old way of preserving raw torik through pickling. And the traditional method is a specialised craft: once the head and tail are removed, the fish is cut in three, cleaned, slathered in salt and the pieces placed upright in a salt-filled container. They’re then refrigerated for around a fortnight, during which time they’re rotated daily.
Once the salt is washed away, the torik’s butter-soft flesh is sliced and served with red onion and olive oil. It’s commonly eaten as part of a spread, alongside a glass of raki.
Where to try it: Lakerda often appears on the menu of Istanbul’s Michelin-recommended seafront Kıyı Restaurant in Tarabya.
Published in Issue 24 (summer 2024) of Food by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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