"The waterways are called Narooma, Aboriginal for clear water & they're not kidding. We learn how to throw a traditional spear; precise hunting of mullet & bream and gather lobster, abalone & other succulent shellfish. Cooking is no mucking around, boiling and barbying with a few secrets chucked in. It'ÂÂs a seafood-and-eat-it paradise but with the local law playing a tough role."
Senna, unemployed and unassuming, fishes off the edge of the protected marine reef. Its half work, half recreation, and Senna is highly skilled at fly-fishing. Using a Pithia (native branch) as the rod and weed plucked from the reef, the Paramuva (silver mullet) bite timidly, but once hooked its a fight; never mind the razor coral and crashing waves. If the endorphins aren't flowing the quickly bled and boiled fish mixed with backyard curry leaves will sort you out.
"This is when a taboo on fishing ends and the village take to the water. Circular netting and lots of big sticks are used to make the catch. The fish look like aquarium escapees as they are driven into human pens across the coral reef. If this seems unusual they then bury the fish, (a lovu) wrapped in banana leaves and volcanic rocks with lots of goodies. Fishing and cooking doesnâÂÂt get more fun than this. "
"Straight out of Hemingway, this macho backwater has more whales and assorted marine life than the entire gulf. The fishing is basic, hook, lead and squid. The catch is plentiful pescada blanco (white fish) and pescada a puta (whore of a fish). Like the name infers, these are dangerous to play with! Penguino, prepares pescado Ranchero, a fishy salsa with his buddies. It'ÂÂs a blur of tequila and sensational fish tacos."
What they don't sell to market or direct to restaurants they use as bait for some of the largest flat fish known to man. Not even a paella dish will carry these floppy giants. With lockins a prerequisite for early morning fishing you know the cooking is going to be fishy but more fun than food should ever be!
But there's no crying for anyone when the big fish are on! Ailin, the local schoolteacher is set on proving her dammed river is still a source to be reckoned with! Water walking dorado and man size catfish lurk here at the base of one of the largest hydroelectric dams. It even has its very own fish elevator. Imaginations run wild and for dessert its alien fish pasties and open arms.
"We see him potter along the shoreline with a cane pole and chicken gut. He'Âs usually up to his waist in surf & surrounded by rocks and that'Âs where he hunts up to 30-kilo Conga eels. They can break your arm with their body whilst dicing up your fingers with their teeth. They are also the essential ingredients for an authentic Caldirada, (the Portuguese Bouillabaisse). Cooked in a witch'Âs pot on an open fire for up to several days. Its got lots of surprises, some of which you are sure to smell later. "
"Dave enjoys not only eating them but also catching them - fat eels, returning to the coast to spawn up the Thames. Using hi tech ""slingshot"" tackle, he makes it all look easy. The hard part is catching the bait- live crabs under groins. Only for the masochistic, and so is the meal. Boiled eel in green liqueur and jellied eel from the fridge needs no explanation. The secret in English cuisine is the salt? Not for the queasy! "
Culinary China: Food For Thought gives an insight into the inventions of chopsticks, hotpot, vinegar, bean curd and noodles. Have a taste of Chinese ingenuity and find out what it really means to have a good Chinese meal.
Hugh had thought his downshifting was progressing nicely. But his daily garden check reveals a pesky garden pest. A Riverbank rendezvous with keeper John Aplin gives him an opportunity to put his vermin control to the test, and hopefully catch himself some supper. The jam season is approaching, so it’s off to Forde Abbey farm for a day fruit picking. He meets a group of European students and is invited for a meal of Ukrainian Borscht and a campfire song. Hugh decides to expand the River Cottage livestock, but foxy concerns about his new chicken run send him to fellow small holder Frank Biddlecombe for a lesson in foul play.
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