TODAY, there are many appetising dishes readily available. I sometimes wonder how life was in the ancient past when access to good food was not as easily available, as it is nowadays.
Oh, wait… I do know what that life is like! My grandmother’s pickled fish! Treasured as a rare gem, a precious commodity with ingredients sourced from the eastern countryside – it was a meal fit for royalty, served just once a year.
Just as Jesus rose from the grave, so do my taste buds on Good Friday.
An age old family tradition, I remember sitting in the kitchen as a child watching my grandmother beaver away slicing onions, frying fish, winging it all through to create the finest masterpiece handed to us with turmeric stained hands.
Reminiscing on a bowl full of pickled fish, I can clearly picture its rich mustard colour set off by the white dish it was in. I could smell the aroma of garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns and fish spice drifting up into my nostrils. My mouth watered in anticipation.
And just before I could scoop up a mouthful, my grandmother would walk in with freshly baked hot cross buns, filling the room with its sweet cinnamon and nutmeg scent.
The succulent fish gleaming with a coating of the spiced sauce, topped with perfectly braised onions, accompanied by warm aromatic buns would take you to a place far-away in time and space.
I think we all have a beautiful place in our mind – mine being my grandmothers kitchen during Easter.
When I returned for a second helping, there was not a scoop left. And it’s only now that I realise it was not just about the pickled fish. The beauty of this dish was the most cherished part of our family’s history.
Now, I am going to share this sacred recipe with you. Yes, there are variations with masala spice and apricot jam but that will be an injustice to the real magnificence of my grandmothers’ pickled fish!
Ingredients:
(As I said, she would wing it, so use discretion to measure)
· Deboned hake
· Turmeric
· Garlic
· Bay leaves
· Green chillies
· Black peppercorns
· Fish spice
· Salt and pepper
· Lemon juice
· Flour
· Eggs
· Vinegar
· Sugar
· Oil
· Maizena (corn flour)
Method:
· Dry hake with paper towel or clean tea towel
· Squeeze lemon juice over hake
· Season flour with fish spice, salt and pepper
· Beat eggs
· Dip hake into spiced flour mixture and then egg and fry until firm
· Set aside
Sauce:
· Slice onions into rings
· Fry onions, garlic, bay leaves, chillies, peppercorns in heated and oiled pan until golden
· Add turmeric and continue to shallow fry
· Mix only two teaspoons maizena with water into a running consistency
· Pour vinegar into the onions as they become transparent and once the vinegar starts to bubble, add the maizena mixture
· Add two tablespoons of sugar, stir and taste, adjust until desired sweet and sour flavour
· Add battered fried fish and allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes
· Cool and refrigerate
