Fifty days & ways with 'Hamsi'

?Hamsi? is a way of life for Black Sea people. Known as the European anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus to be precise, it is the staple protein during winter months for all of the people living near the shores of the Black Sea coast in Turkey. Never raised in fish farms, it is foraged fish; a daily routine for fishermen, going out to the open sea, as long as the weather permits, and bringing back boat-loads of it every early morning, with cats and some early bird people waiting on the jetty to receive their share. The bounty of the sea is shared by the few waiting to hail the fishermen at the crack of the day, free of charge. This free give-away bucketful to the needy is called ?göz hakk?,? translated as eye-share, a wonderful tradition of generosity, still maintained in this world of greediness. 

They say the best hamsi appear only after the snowfall. The often-repeated saying is that there must be some snow-water that has got into the ear of the hamsi. A strange way to express it, but it is true that the water has to be icy cold for the hamsi to get fat and flavorful, as more fat translates as more flavor. There must be 50 ways to cook hamsi, some have even tried to make baklava with it. That avant-garde attempt fortunately remained an odd try, but signature dishes of Black Sea cookery include many other innovative dishes; fried, grilled, steamed, broiled, pickled, salted, cured; each worth exploring. ?Hamsili pilav? is a delicately spiced pilaf, baked or rather pan fried, with a lining of finger-sized fillets of hamsi arranged in a fan-shaped pattern at the bottom of the pan, providing a crisp fishy crust to the aromatic oniony rice pilaf, a delightful feast on its own. Many would die for ?hamsi ku?u,? strangely named ?hamsi birds? in English, may be...