How to fillet a seabass...

Nowadays, most fish among other things, comes gutted, cleaned and neatly packaged. It does save a lot of effort but every now and then, it is nice to see professionals at work.
With most people, it is the staring eyes that put them off cooking or ordering a whole fish. Around the Med, fish comes the way I like it, whole, unfilleted and really tasty.

Fishy tale....

The price of fish has driven us to send our Portofino chef, Noel Stamp all the way to Mexico to catch his own!!
Noel has just arrived back at work after a two-week holiday in Cosumel, with his fiancée, Gemma.
Being a keen fisherman, Noel couldn't resist catching the first boat out to go deep-sea fishing for Barracudas, Swordfish, Tuna, etc...

The last time he went to Mexico he brought me back a cookery book. The cheek!
This time, he thought about bringing back his catch but worried about the stink he might cause on the plane back. So, after getting one of the hotel chefs to cook him the best of the catch, he shared the rest between the housekeepers and waiters.



Have ever heard the story of a guy catching a fish this big?

Noel made sure he had the evidence with him because we would not have believe one word of his fishy tale.

What makes kids eat weird stuff?

On holiday with our two grandchildren, we discovered that one was averse to trying anything new whereas the other was fascinated with new flavours.

Please believe me if I tell you that our 8-year old Alex scoffs squid, octopus, prawns with the ease of a Big Mac! He loved salmon, sea bass, mussels and just about anything I asked him to try.

Even chillies! I had to bribe him with one Euro though. And the little rascal took a big bite off! The way that he dived for his glass of Fanta to cool the volcano that had erupted in his mouth was a sight not to be missed.
Does he do these things to appear "macho"? To stand out from the bland crowd? I am honestly not sure.
All I know is that with every new thing he tries, he goes up a notch in my estimation.
His twelve year-old sister, Evie, on the other hand, is someone who would die of hunger rather than touch, let alone taste something like a mouthful of broccoli or a juicy prawn. By the end of the holiday she was in fact toying with the idea of becoming a vegetarian!
Do I love her any less? No way! She has always been the apple of my eye! Now she will be the green apple…

I must say that my grandson stands heads and shoulders above your everyday kid who lives on chicken goujons and chips and nothing else.
Parents, please beware! Kids who eat anything seem to have more energy than others!

Algerian trip...

I'm back!
I went to visit my father, my sisters and their families.
The weather ranged from boiling hot afternoons to cool evenings, dusty mornings and torrential rains.
As usual, the seasonal produce was on show. I was a few days too early for my sister's apricots but there were enough fruits to make up for them. The strawberries were delicious and the dates absolutely luscious.




















A visit to one of Algiers oldest fish restaurants, Sauveur (a true Saviour!) was an evening to remember. Fish, fish and fish... Gorgeous.
















Minted tea and roasted nuts, overlooking the Med from the south.
















Fishermen enjoying a great sunset...

Fishing practice...

For two weeks now, since I was picked for the Fish recipe final in Birmingham on 3rd April, I have been practising my fish tagine and the Cod loin compulsory dish.

We've had three lots of tagines and three different versions of Cod loin since I got the news. Good job Karen and I love fish!
I have just about perfected the first dish but I am still playing about with the second. The loin is very firm and doesn't lend itself to baking so I have cut it into medallions, grilled and served them on a tasty tomato and basil sauce with green beans.
My fishmonger must be wondering why we're eating so much fish all of a sudden.
Seven days to go!!

I will post the recipes if the judges like them.

Brain food...

Yesterday, the office phone rang. It was someone from one of the fishmongers we use for our restaurants.

Cynical me thought: "I bet he wants to sell me more fish..."

He asked if I could remember sending in a recipe for the online competition the firm ran back in January.
"Fish and seafood Tagine?"
I remembered casually copying this dish from my website recipe section and pasting it onto the entry form.
He said that I had been shortlisted and asked if I would be available to attend the finals in Birmingham at the beginning of April.
I checked my mobile phone diary. A phone is not just a phone these days, you know!
"I'm free."
"All expenses paid." He added.
"It's a date!"
Once I came off the phone, I began to imagine myself teaching Gordon Ramsay how to cook my dish and watching Heston Blumenthal turn it into a chemical experiment.

I must get started on the acceptance speech...
The above photo is of a Lamb Tagine we serve at Krimo's.

I caught the early worm...

on Monday morning...


I knew I had to get up at 7am to open the restaurant doors to the air conditioning engineers. A brand new system! The new system uses a gas that's Earth-friendly but does it have to cost the Earth?

I woke up at around 6am and, as I couldn't go back to sleep, I decided to go down to the restaurant.
The photo shows the view just out of the kitchen door! Nowadays I carry my camera in my pocket just to snap anything worth snapping.
As they say in Amateur Photographer Weekly:
A Happy Snapper makes a Happy Sole!
And a Happy Snappy Sole always catches the Early Worm...

Stop me, please!!!