Main dish
Hamsi tava
Origin: Trabzon, Black Sea
Black Sea anchovies coated in corn flour and pan-fried on both sides, served hot with lemon and green salad.
For hamsi tava the anchovies are cleaned: head, guts and backbone come out. They are salted, drained and coated in corn flour. In the recipe of Türkiye's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the fish go side by side into a lightly oiled pan. When the underside is brown, the whole round is turned over with a lid or a plate. The other side is browned too. It is served hot with lemon and green salad.
Anchovy is the main fish of Black Sea cooking. Go Türkiye counts about 40 anchovy dishes in Trabzon, with fried anchovies and anchovy pilaf the best known. Türkiye's commercial fishing season opens on 1 September and closes on 15 April. Hamsi is mostly eaten from late autumn through winter. Out of season it may be missing from the menu, so ask the restaurant before you go.
Dietary notes: contains fish. The coating is corn flour; ask whether wheat flour is mixed in.