Seafood in Marseille

Freshly caught from the Mediterranean sea!

Taste the freshly caught seafood during your stay in Marseille, it’s a must! There is a wide variety of seafood in the Mediterranean sea. People have been eating seafood since prehistoric times. In fact, it all started with the Neanderthal man, who was already eating it 150,000 years ago according to Spanish studies.

Seafood advantages

Seafood is a very good ally for slimming and provides enormous nutritional benefits that are favourable to our health. They are also generous in minerals. They represent a high nutritional density even when consumed in small quantities. They provide vitamins B3, B6, B12, iron, phosphorus, calcium, selenium and zinc.

There are many types of seafood, some of which are ideal for boosting our vitality, such as mussels, lobsters, prawns, shrimps and whelks, and others, such as periwinkles, which are rich in calcium and therefore perfect for our bones.

Good to know

There are specific periods for eating seafood (remember that sometimes seafood can cause food poisoning).

January: Winkles
January to March: whelks
August to March: Squid
November to May: Scallops
November and December: Shrimps
July : Gamba shrimps
November to March : Oysters
April to November : Lobsters
September to February : Mussels
November : Sea Urchins

‘Oursinades’: an event awaited every year

Every year, the towns of the Côte Bleue organise the famous oursinades (sea urchin festival)! Every Sunday in February in Carry-le-Rouet, in mid-January and at the end of January in Sausset-les-Pins and recently in Marseille, at the end of February and even at the beginning of March (dates to be confirmed each year).

The Sea Urchins Festival of the town of Carry-le-Rouet has remained a tradition since 1952. This event started the day when fishermen offered to the mayor of the time, Mr Jean-Baptiste Grimaldi, his weight in sea urchins!

Then in the 1960s, the day of the sea urchin was created and the event became more and more popular.

In twenty-five years, the month dedicated to the sea urchin has become the great festival of the Oursinades in Carry-le-Rouet.

With so much enthusiasm and demand from tourists and locals alike, Marseille has recently organised one a Sunday in February/March (we invite you to check the date).

Learn more

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