Sydney Fish Markets. 31/7/2015
Photo credit – James Horan
What’s looking good this year?
Species looking good at Sydney Fish Market this year include prawns and Rock Lobster. Outside of the classics, obviously your snapper, kingfish, and don’t forget your barramundi – plenty of that around and it is looking delicious. Great as a table centrepiece.
What’s the most popular species?
I often get asked the question of what’s the most popular species and without a doubt, in the 28 years I’ve been involved with this 36 hour trade you you’ll see people leave with plenty of prawns and oysters in their bag.
But I think it’s also worth trying crab – whether it’s your mud crab or your blue swimmer crab for something a little bit different. That’s a wonderful product and if you haven’t experienced it, you won’t be disappointed.
Will people be able to buy oysters?
Of course they will, despite current news that some farms are currently closed. Farm closure is a year round occurrence that’s been happening for as long as we’ve been growing oysters in Australia. So yes, there are some farms closed but don’t be concerned with that.
Plenty of farms are still open. We are fortunate that they are spread wide and across many states. And this year, the supply from New South Wales and Tasmania is looking exceptional.
When should people buy their seafood for Christmas day?
Best time of year to buy your Christmas Day seafood it’s a very good question. Look I don’t I’d have no hesitation in buying my seafood three or four days in advance. And people shouldn’t be concerned about doing that. It’s about how what you do with it once you take it home.
How do you keep seafood fresh?
If you want to keep it nice and fresh, almost as good as the day that it was caught, take it home, unwrap it from its wrapping and pack it in an esky with plenty of ice. Keep it in a cool part of the house and just remember to top it up each day. If you don’t have access to an esky, the coldest part of the fridge.
Remember, a minute of the ice is an hour of it’s shelf life. But with ice on it, it will look as good and feel and taste as fresh as the day it was caught.
What’s the best time to head to the marathon to beat the rush?
The best times to beat the rush is on the first morning – that’s the 23rd, between 5am to 9am. Or if you’re not an early starter and you want to arrive later in the day, 4pm to 6pm on the 23rd, otherwise the afternoon of the 24th.
Regardless, we’ve had many years’ experience at this, to ensure a very successful running of our seafood marathon. Don’t be put off by traffic concerns, as traffic does move in and out quickly. We are fortunate we have plenty of security on site and work well with the police to control traffic outside the market.
If you are coming by car, we recommend taking advantage of alternative parking at Sydney Secondary College which is a short walk up the road.
