Much as I consider myself to be able to do most things, there are some times when I wonder 'why?' Fish is something I enjoy cooking, and eating, but I have never had the opportunity (and I use the word in the broadest of terms) to fillet said beast. (I use the word in the broadest of terms!) Although I am nearing a quarter of my years in my 'new life', I am still finding 'new' things to do. Why I decided that 'new life, new things' should include filleting a fish is beyond me! I am somewhat of a 'Jack of all Trades', rather than a master of one, but I consider myself wanting to be a master of 'Jack of all trades'!Last weekend I bought a pack of two mackerels. The plan (the phrase that never ends well) was to 'smoke' the pair, or at least 'dehydrate', using the option on my new oven.
The fish section at the Asian supermarket is quite spectacular. In fact, the whole store is like an Aladdin's cave, in my opinion. (Continents aside!) Fish lay on ice, like in an old fashioned fishmongers, and the choice was vast. The blue crabs appeared to be the only 'live' stock. I was fascinated to watch shoppers pick up the crustaceans with a pair of tongs, and examine them. Personally, I would not have a clue as to which one would be good, and which one would not. The crabs did put up a pretty good fight. They hung onto the tongs, and refused to let go. However, into the bag went the unfortunates who were presumably going to end up on someone's plate later that evening. I would point out that I am neither an advocate for 'save the crab', nor a 'crabitarian', and the market for such dishes are 'what they are'. As I say, I was fascinated to watch the 'first part of the procedure'. The only problem I had was how these customers kept the crabs in the bags. I smiled at the thought of one escaping on the journey home, and if they maintained the determination to 'hang on' once their pincers had grabbed onto a nose or an ear, it could be catastrophic! (I did not smile at the catastrophe, just the situation!) However, I digress! I bought two deceased mackerel!
After creating things at which I knew I maintained a reasonable level of mastery, I set about preparing the fish. I would at this point apologise to those who are master 'fish filleters', to those who are reasonable 'fish filleters', but mainly to the fish! The apology is to 'fish-kind' in general, for the barbaric autopsy I was about to perform!
Researching the options, I chose against smoking and dehydrating. I did not have a 'smoker', and the dehydrating method that I had found, started with the warning, 'It could be dangerous....'. That was enough for me to 'tune out'. It appears that if they are not salted enough, the end result could work out to poisonous, and as this was not my only project of the day, I had become less enthusiastic as time went by! Two eyes stared up at me from the sink. I almost walked way, but came back. Be brave! I cut off the heads and tails, before realising that this was probably not the way to go about deboning! However, I could not face the postmortem with the one being 'knifed', watching me perform the operation! I continued. Being left with four small sections, disintegrating more and more as I attempted to wash them, I wondered if the whole thing was worth the effort. I had carefully wrapped the heads and tails in paper, then into a bag, wrapped in another bag, and discarded them in the outside dumpster, so as to avoid any offensive scent. However, I am not one to give up! I may never try again, but if I start something, I usually see it through to the end, and after almost of hour of making sure that the creature was free of all spinal evidence, into the oven it was popped.
Sunday evening was an event! We had decided to go out and get something to eat, and upon our return, I thought I had gone through a time warp and ended up at Billingsgate market! Or perhaps La Jolla in California. (We were told this city had the infamous name of 'the smelliest zip code'.) My ground floor level, especially the kitchen area, was reminiscent of a fishing port, and not a very pleasant one at that! Dana could not stay downstairs, and made a quick exit. Although I had cleaned the surfaces thoroughly, and restricted the aquatic craniate to the sink, the stench was somewhat overwhelming. Out came the steamer, bleach and lemon juice! I poured the juice down the sink followed by a few chunks of ice, and turned on the waste disposal. Then I steamed the surfaces, tiles, cupboard fronts and floor. It did not take too long, but the effect was good enough to emit the foul odour, and allow my husband to come downstairs and make me a cup of tea! I deserved something for my efforts, did I not?
Wrapped tightly in foil, the mackerel did not offend my fridge! I had planned to take it to work on Monday and have it for lunch, but I was still feeling a little queasy, and not at all fond of fish! I decided that my fish filleting days were over, albeit before they had begun, and my high hopes of being the presenter of mackerel jerky was a dream that had turned into a nightmare and was to be put away with the 'perfect' Charlotte Russe! (Another culinary downfall!)
Despite the lack of yearning for anything fishy, the cooked mackerel haunted me, and I was aware that inside the foil wrapping lay a quartet of fused flakes that really needed to be transformed into something edible or two things would happen. The first, and this was not an option, as it would equate to failure, (a factor in which the 'new' life has no room,) would be to let it join the head and tail in the dumpster. The second would be to let it sit for a few days, at which time I would decide, or the smell would decide for me, that it has to be thrown away, thus going back to option one, which as mentioned was not an option! I had to do something!
The 'new life' has been somewhat of a transformation, and items in my fridge are what I was told, through the presenters of a British television programme, 'Ready, Steady Cook', (which I think I may have mentioned previously,) are always in the fridge or cupboard. (A cooking show where they could only use the items provided by the contestant, as well as those that would be found in everyone's fridge or larder. I quote not! I merely remember thinking, 'Um, no. Not mine'!) I never remember having a constant supply of cream cheese or natural yoghurt, but here I am now, in possession of both! This was rather advantageous as I decided to make a pate! After all, what better use of the unwanted fresh water beast (and I use the word in the broadest of terms, as it was becoming somewhat of a burden) than to turn it into something else! Of course, I would have preferred the 'something else' to be a little more exotic, but one never knows what an experiment may produce. After all, one man's rubbish is another man's treasure! I blended the ingredients, and was left with a reasonable tasting paste.
The smell in my kitchen was not quite as bad as Sunday, but the lingering aroma of 'quay' was definitely a problem. My 'ninja' food processor was clinging to the fish as if it were it's guardian angel. No matter how many times I washed it, the smell would not dissipate. Cold water, ice and an inordinate amount of washing up liquid finally made the smell go away, but it reminded me (not that I needed to be reminded) that this was not going to be an area of expertise, and I was not completely a 'Jack of all trades'. Fishmongery was definitely out!
Surprisingly enough, the pate was a huge success. (One man's rubbish...in the broadest of terms!) I was delighted that something good had come out of the demise of these two Norwegian mackerel and that I had not succumbed to failure!
The weekend approached and my daughter and I went on our usual jaunt. Occasionally, we ask each other how we feel about living here. Strange as it may seem, we sometimes look at each other and say, "We are living in Texas!" We have been told that we are a little strange, so to us, it is the norm! We went to 'Sam's', where I purchased some cod. The cod had been skinned, boned, cut into sections, cleaned and put into cellophane wrappers before being put into a plastic holdall! It would not look at me when I finally take it out of the freezer to cook it! We sampled a variety of fishy snacks in Costco, which were all prepared and housed in 'ready to eat' packages. I was delighted that we did not pass the Asian supermarket as Samantha always asks, "Do you need to go in?" and I was almost scared in case I said, 'Yes", and was tempted to retry the 'never to be visited again' event, because failure is not an option!
Dana and I went out on Saturday night and enjoyed a pleasant dinner. I ordered fish tacos! Obviously the event did not deter my usual appetite. No doubt, fish will be on Chez Tracie's menu at some stage, but it will be purchased in 'ready to deal with' packs! Although I say I cook 'from scratch', in retrospect, I do not, as I am not a butcher or, indeed, a fishmonger, but I cook from 'third stage scratch", having had the first and second rounds taken care of!
As we trudge into the second month of the year, and time is ticking around to our fifteen year anniversary, I am constantly reminded of all the things I do as a matter of course. Obviously, there is no reason to know that I would not have become the person I am now if I was living in England, but I do not think I would have been so adventurous. I think I would have opted for a quieter experience as the years progressed, perhaps taking on new ventures, but not those of such a diverse nature, and believe me, fishmongery is now in that category! Do I still consider this to be my new life? I suppose it will be until I reach the 'equilibrium'! I often wonder what 'new' options can arise, but I suppose that is why I am always able to find things to put into ......... another story!
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