h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Odo has described this afternoon's incident as being very typical of my character; whether this is a good thing or a bad thing I am not sure:

This week is Swansea Food Festival and, having the day off and having Odo to stay, I dragged her down to the market (which is truly excellent year round, btw) for the Seafood Day. My covert intention was to enter the Fish Quiz at 2:30 at which you could win a £20 seafood hamper.

Other than me, the only entries were two OAPs and a dodgy couple who spent most of their time bickering. Somewhat sadly, I came up trumps with full marks and was handed a £20 voucher for the best fish stall in the market. Obviously I was lucky enough to get to choose the contents of the hamper myself.

The seafood industry being in a slump as it is, £20 is surprisingly difficult to spend, so I am now in possession of the following:

2 Dover Sole
2 Sea Trout
1/2 Lb of tiger prawns
5 King Scallops
1 Cod Fillet
and a dressed crab.

I was also conned into buying a couple of Coley fillets for the bickering couple, who are making fishcakes tonight.

Thank goodness I have a big freezer. This sort of thing seems to happen to me all too often.

B

There's enough to keep you going for more than a week there!

Best part of a fortnight, by my reckoning. That's assuming I don't get sick of seafood before then.

B

Cor!

It's ages since I've had seafood. Getting all our meat cheap from a tame butcher makes seafood seem like a bit of a needless expense.

Having just discovered that I like some fish I decided to try sushi. Oh for someone to have a camera when I started gagging in a salmon roll at the conveyor belt in Moshi-moshi.

*adopts faux essex accent* whydontcha come darn the cok-awl sheds in Leigh?
The seafood is fresh (as in - off the boat), and there's four pubs within 200 yards.

Liam.

A tame butcher???

Yeah, they'd never survive being released back into the wild though.

Liam.

A commercial butcher (as in supplies resturants and supermarkets) that sells us lovely meat at wonderful prices- "beef joint, gammons, whole chicken, chinese chicken pieces, veal, mince and sausages. Twenty quid please." I don't argue.

Veal

Sausages, proper butchers sausages, filled with saw-dust and all the stuff the butcher daren't sell over the counter (not, might I add, Hilary Briss' 'special stuff').

Liam.

My butcher back 'ome in Lincolnshire did the most amazing haslet.

B

Haslet, haggis, liver and bacon with mash, devilled kidneys, tongue, boiled bacon, frakendella, boerwurst, emu meat, black pudding - most of that you wont find in tescos. If god didn't want us to eat meat he shouldn't have made it taste so good.

Are you telling me that God is a vegetarian?

B

No, not at all old chap. Just a little message for holier-than-thou vegetarians

Liam.

What not smoked haddock?

I'm not keen on smoked stuff, be it fish, bacon or cheese. I prefer a natural flavour.

B

....besides its tought to keep the haddock lit, and you need really big rolling papers for smoking ham.


sorry, just could not resist.

On the subject of seafood, I was always one of those kids who though fish only came in frozen fingers, but living now in Tokyo eat fish all the time. My favorite meal of late has been thick tuna steaks marinated in white wine, garlic, lemon and a dash of olive oil and quick broiled (oh how I wish I could use a barbecue on my balcony)
That and the roasted Tuna jaw they serve in the local pub. I looks like the biggest beef rib you've ever seen and tastes like chicken.

Sounds good. I devloped a tuna marinade which caught on rapidly at Uni once people got over the idea of eating uncooked fish.

Juice of 2 lemons
Hefty splash of soy sauce
Hefty splash of olive oil
A tablespoon of white wine vinegar.
Spring onions, garlic and chillies to taste.

Cube your tuna fillet and marinade for an hour. Eat with a fork and a Greek salad. I'm sure the salad's not particularly authentic, but we found feta complimented the tuna perfectly.

B

Did someone mention haggis? I had haggis for both lunch and supper on saturday. Delicious stuff.

You lucky, lucky bugger. My parents were sasenachs for a while and still celebrate Burns' night (well it's about the only time you can buy haggis in the south though I have finally located a butcher that sells it all year round).

A couple of years ago my dad and I attended a southern attempt at a Burns' night dinner. Watching people turn their noses up at haggis neaps and tatties was great - but not as good as going "Are you not going to eat that? Do you mind if I do?"

Liam.