Ann's Blog
Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou:
March 3, 2012:
What’s cooking:
February’s galley experiments
In An Embarrassment of Mangoes, I described how Steve was always urging me to write my recipes down, “right now, before you forget what you did.” This meant a galley experiment had turned out well, and – strong self-interest at work here – he wanted to make absolutely sure I could turn out exactly the same dish again. Fat chance. Cooking on Receta is more providence than recipe – a complicated equation involving what’s on hand, what has to be used up before it spoils, what surprises the local market delivers, and what goodies land in our cockpit, thanks to local friends and/or the deities that control fishing success.
Believe me, writing it down is the least important factor in whether a recipe ever reappears on our table. Proof:
1. Needed, pronto: A special Valentine’s Day breakfast for Steve. Needed to use up: (a) half a loaf of dense, past-its-prime Grenada bread and (b) the tail-end of a bottle of ponche de crème – the very alcoholic Trini version of eggnog – left over from Christmas and taking up space in the coldest part of my tiny fridge. (Aside: This ponche de crème was a gift from Trini friends. My homemade version had disappeared first – and fast. I knew I’d nailed it when I served it – with great trepidation – to my Trini friend and cooking guru, Miss Pat. “Oh, honey,” she said, her voice thick with pleasure. “It tastes just like what Daddy used to make.”)
2. Available for dinner, spur of the moment: Fresh, sushi-grade local tuna, at Whisper Cove Marina in Clarkes Court Bay, Grenada. What to do with it: Almost nothing. Sear quickly in olive oil, so the inside remains raw; slice; and plate. Galley experiment: the wasabi cream drizzled on top, a couldn’t-be-simpler combo of sour cream and wasabi. (We like the prepared wasabi sold in tubes and bring a supply to the boat with us from Toronto each season.) “Let’s have this again soon,” said Steve. “Okay, sweetheart,” I replied. “Just as soon as a tuna leaps straight into our cockpit.”
3. Languishing in the freezer too long: Unfortunately, the only other tuna on Receta in February comes from a small, whole blackfin I’d bought in the St. George’s market. It wasn’t sushi-grade to start with, and it certainly wasn’t any closer after two weeks in the freezer.
4. A surprise from our fishermen friends: Dwight and Stevie gave us a small “seacat” – octopus – from their catch one day. Galley experiment: Instead of cutting it up and stewing it Creole-style the way we usually do, Steve decided we should try grilling it whole. After it had been pounded, I marinated it (lime juice, olive oil, garlic, pepper rum) for a few hours and Steve slapped it on the grill until the tentacles caramelized. The flavour was great… if you don’t mind chewing tractor tires. I hated to throw it out, so the next day I consulted with our friend Yani on the sailboat Magus, who is a trained chef. She suggested I put the grilled seacat in the pressure cooker for five minutes and then back on the grill. Much better, though not perfect. (A good deal of the flavour imparted by the marinade got left behind in the pressure cooker.)
Tasted much better than it looks
Next week, Dwight brought us another small seacat. This time we did it in the proper order: Pressure cooked it for six minutes, then marinated it for a few hours, then grilled it. Almost perfect. It just needed a few more minutes in the pressure cooker at the start, and more time in the marinade in the middle.
“Write it down right now,” said Steve, “so you’ll remember for the next seacat.” “Okay, sweetheart,” I replied. This time he had a point.
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