Adventures with a fish
On Tuesday Hodmandod Minor has to dissect fish heads in his biology class so I spent some time this morning staring at the poor dull-eyed fish carcasses laid out on the counter of Tesco. Eventually I settled on the sea bass but then realised I had no idea what to do with them. So I ended up buying 'Cook with Jamie' by Jamie Oliver (a gorgeous looking book - each recipe beautifully photographed), a pot containing a coriander plant, several pieces of ginger, four red chilli peppers, a bottle of toasted sesame oil, light soy sauce, 4 limes, a tin of coconut milk, 500g basmati rice, a bulb of garlic, 200g of sugar snap peas and a bunch of spring onions. It is supposed to end up looking like this
and is, apparently, 'exciting to eat' which fills me with some foreboding. So I have also bought some fish fingers and some crinkle-cut oven chips just to be on the safe side.
posted by Clare Dudman at 2:30 pm
6 Comments:
Where's your picture? I like this guy's show but I hate leaving the scales on:) Good luck!
You are a brave woman - I attempt very little when it comes to fish. Or cooking in general. I've burned more food than should be legal.
I can't eat fish with skin on regardless of what Jamie Oliver says. Are you going to post a picture of your finished meal, too?
We have a Chinese friend who taught us to cook fish in the blandest way possible, then pour a very speedily assembled (and briefly cooked) mix of oil, ginger and sliced green onion over the top. It's amazingly simple and tasty - as so many of the Chinese recipes are.
You make me laugh Clare! I hope it turns out well!
Incidentally, Oliver's Italy is an absolutely gorgeous book. Lovely to hold (a sturdy & substantial tome) with thick crisp matt paper and beautiful photographs. Like Rick Stein and his French Odyssey, Italy is a journey as well as the food and recipes!
As for dissection I don't envy your son, although I do envy the fact he seems to have a choice on fish! For A level zoology we got the dogfish and only the dogfish. Every known thing stringy bit, be it nerve or blood vessel seemed to be white. And we got the damn thing in the exam (where they could have given us the rat)! If I remember correctly there were afferents and efferents, but the eye dissection was the worst/best! An old school friend went in too far in the eye socket and emerged back out to the air through the brain... All was lost along the way, so trying making a drawing of what should be there for the examiner to see! You'll be pleased to know she ended up in medical publishing, where spines don't require dissection. Best of luck to your son!
Tammy and Sharon J: The picture will appear, I promise. I don't think it will be a very pretty sight.
Twitches. Yes, me too. I always order fish at restaurants because I can never be bothered with the stuff at home.
Susan: That sounds good. The instructions for this dish look quite easy, however am a little worried by the bit that says 'boned' - how easy that is to say.
CFR: I love new cookery books - when they are so clean and bright. Mine don't last very long like that though - soon spattered with so much grease the pages become transparent.
Funny you should say that about going in through the eye and ending up outside the brain. Just the other day I was reading that the eye is actually a part of the brain. Very odd. Dissection sounds very difficult. I believe I must have done this a one time - but all I can remember is a certain sound ...and everyone giggling when a dead frog's legs twitched - although no one was really laughing at all.
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