Red Snapper Creole Style

Red Snapper Creole Style - Before
Originally uploaded by Copleys


Grilled Bourzwa commonly known as Red snapper


1 large bourzwa (red snapper) I visit billingsgate this week and they were available

onions 100g

20g garlic

10g ginger

10g bilimbi (green mango) obtained from most indian grocers

12 small chillies(use as many or a little as you like)

couple of lemons

Handful of flat leaved parsley

salt

pepper


Method;
In a food processor finely chop the ingredients all except the lemon.

Slash the fish as pictured and fill each slash with the mixture.Season with salt and pepper and squeeze the lemons over the fish leave to marinate for a minimum of 20 mins.

Grill the fish until brown and the skin is crisp.Serve with a simple tomato salad and basmati rice

how to grate a coconut

how to grate a coconut
Originally uploaded by Kalense Kid

This is exactly what the seat looks like

Coconuts

The coconut is indispensible in seychellois cuisine.Most recipes call for grated coconut.

Grated coconut

Hold the coconut in the palm of the hand,eyes toward thumb or little finger, and with the back of a heavy cleaver, crack the coconut deftly down the center with a hefty wallop.Lift the cleaver quickly, so as to shatter the husk. Repeat,rotating the coconut.Two, three times should do it. do this over a bowl to catch the glorious water.

The coconut water when fresh is one of the most thirst quenching of liquids; however it does sour quickly,and is often used to ferment vegetables or it makes a lovely vinegar.

The coconut halves are washed and then grated. Traditionally , the grater used is a small stool with a sharp pronged grater at one end and the person sits on it legs on either side and the grater is in front and you grate away. I just use a convientional grater.

Bilimbi

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Originally uploaded by heldasland

These are called bilimbi .Multi lobed,oblong fruit. They are related to the star fruit and it feels like star fruit. They are crunchy but have a very watery flesh. A very sour fruit used in fish dishes used like tamarind or sour mango, it adds a wonderful tang. These fruit are not eaten raw. I will be making a few dishes that contain them .These have been frozen so my mum always has a supply.Thse can be made into a pickle sour, hot, salty

simply mango

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Originally uploaded by heldasland

Sometimes simple menus are the call of the day.We are all so preoccupied with learning and savouring new tastes that we often neglect fruit. Most of us are quite happy on holiday to tuck into a delicious platter of exotic fruit or to end the meal with fruit. Other countries have a respect and love for fruit and are quite unashamedly happy to serve you simply fruit .I love fruit. We should all eat much more ,not just because it good for us, but more importantly it tastes so bloody good .Take for instance a pineapple ,this pricky strange fruit onced peeled is so delicious, its so easy to peel ,yet many people go and buy it in a tin .It doesnt taste the same.If on a menu you have a choice of tinned fruit salad and lets face it many people do eat it and serve it ,or, a baked sponge with custard(yum yum) what would you choose? There is nothing like freshly prepared fruit exotic or otherwise .So , go on treat yourself to a some papaya, pineapples,mangoes and savour marvel at its magic.

Simple mango recipe

Last night I was transported but to a very vivid memory of sitting on the beach in the seychelles ankle deep in the sea watching my dad peeling some mangoes that he had earlier picked from a tree in the grounds of my grandmothers home. He peeled the skin , cut in to slices,and washed it in the sea ,a sprinkling of black pepper was added , he handed me a slice. Delicious, that was the tastest piece of fruit I had ever eaten.The sweet,hot (from the pepper,salty.juicy hit all the taste buds all at once a perfect combination.

I had been shopping at a local indian groceries shop and these delightful spheres of sweet golden fruit had to be bought. The above recipe was promptly done and desserts were served. When buying mangoes for this get ones that are not too soft it works, but its much nicer if the fruit is a little underripe.

Mangoes

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Originally uploaded by heldasland

Hooray I have been invited by the queen , no not that queen but the left over queens blogroll http://www.leftoverqueen.com/the-foodie-blogroll unlike the uk list this one is worldwide I'm loving al this stuff. Thank you queenie!!!!

Rice

As a child my job before school was often to prepare the rice. I would measure the rice in a cup that always remained in the rice tin filled with the fragrant scent of basmati, (we only use basmati) I would then have to wash the rice until the water was clear. I would pick out any imperpections.I would then cover the rice with double the amount of water bring to the boil and then place a lid on, lower the flame and let it cook until all the water is absorbed. The finished grains are longer, thinner and much more fragrant and flavourful than that of boiling.I have given directions for the absorption method and i have also added the boiling method.

Serves 4;
300g /10oz basmati rice
20fl oz/1 pint/570ml water

1. Rinse the rice until the water run clears.

2. Add the measured water and bring to the boil the water should be at least twice the volume of the rice.

3.As soon as the water starts bubbling put the lid on and reduce theheat to under half and leave well alone for 8-10 minutes.

4. Inspect,has all the liquid absorbed on top? If not, replace the lid and leave for a few more minutes.If and when it has, stir the rice well, ensuring it is not sticking to the bottom. Now, taste it should not be brittle like a rissotto, if it is ,add a litle more water and heat for a little longer.

The rice is ready to serve when all the grains are separate and all the water has absorbed. it shoild be light and fluffy.

Rice

Boiling rice

This is the simplest of recipes you take a pan of water bring to the boil when boiling,add the rice . Make sure you have copious amounts of water in the same way you would boil pasta. Stir After about 6 min taste a grain if it has a bite it is not ready. When soft ,strain and place in a heat proof dish you can now cover and place in a low oven until required. If you cool the rice by running under a cold tap ,strain it, it can then be placed in the fridge and reheated in the microwave or oven.

five minute wonder or not?

Oh my god, my five minutes of fame I have been added to the uk food blogs directory http://food.feedreel.co.uk/food/uk-food-blogs/ in addition I have also been added to http://www.spittoonextra.biz/uk_food_blogs_september_update.html the fantastic spittoon. I have whiled away many a hour or two on these lists salivating over the many blogs and now I have been added, I really cant stop smiling.

cucumber salad

.Writing this blog makes me think about the ways I have been taught to make dishes by my parents. The instructions you are given and you never question them because thats how it has been shown to them. Generation after generation are shown how to make something ,nothing is ever written ,seems so funny to now try and measure and explain to others how to make these dishes. Its difficult to measure a handful of parsley .We always use ginger and whenever I tried to get my dad to tell me how much I should use he would always use this thumb and show the amount on his thumb it makes complete sense but it is rather difficult to write this for others. All of my family cook this way and it works so very well.I'm sure we all agree that the best tasting dishes are those which start off with "take the chicken,add some salt and pepper add a little of this and a little of that" I call it instinctive cooking ,knowing exactly what is missing from a dish. The following recipe is one such example try it adding more of this and less of the other to suit your taste.

Cucumber salad

cucumber salad

• 2 red onions,finely sliced
• A large handful of parsley
• 2 cucumbers,
• 2 lemons if they are small
• salt
• freshly cracked black pepper
• white wine vinegar
• 2 spring onions
• 2 tsp flavourless oil, olive oil is not suitable
• 1 small green chilli

Finely slice the red onions in a bowl add 1tbsp of salt squeeze the salt into the red onions, really crush the two together. My mum says this makes the onion less acidic and oniony.All the bitter juices will come out. Wash the onions to remove the salt. The onions will be soft and taste mild with a hint of saltiness.

Add 1tbsp of white wine vinegar to the onions and set aside.

Chop spring onions into fine circles use the whole thing green part adds a fresh bite to the salad.

Peel the cucumber cut lenghways you should have two semi circles finely slice these .Add to the bowl of onions.

Add the chopped chilli.

Squeeze the lemons .Finely chop the flat leaved parsley. Add oil and salt and pepper, mix together adding more salt , pepper or lemon to your own taste.

Serve this dish with some basmati rice and simple fried fish.

Fisherman - Praslin - Seychelles

Fisherman - Praslin - Seychelles
Originally uploaded by Jon - Cafesociety.org This is a typical haul I have always opened the freezer at home and found one of these large beauties in the freezer, we ate them on special occasions grilled delicious.

what seychelles has to offer

Industry: fishing, tourism, processing of coconuts and vanilla, coir (coconut fiber) rope.

Agriculture: coconuts, cinnamon, vanilla, sweet potatoes; broiler chickens; tuna fish.

Exports: canned tuna, frozen fish, cinnamon bark, copra, petroleum products (reexports).

Grilled fish

My mums poisson grille(grilled fish)

Grilled fish is something that is cooked all over the island everyone loves this dish,.My first real life cooking demonstration of this happened in the seychelles when I was 4. I was sitting in my grandmothers back garden and she was crouched over a wood burning fire with a grill rack perched on this,(its the grill part of the barbeque) and on it lay eight or so mackerel from the indian ocean which are similar to their uk brothers. The fragrance of woody smoke coupled with the fish crisping and often having burnt bits has remained one of my favourite scents. It is the scent of summer, it is such an evocative scent that fish is barbequed I am often transported back to that moment.My dad was in the yard overlooking his mum as he had prepared the fish sipping a cold seybrew beer.

This has remained with me forever and I only realised I do the same thing when I get the wood stove going, light lager in hand, tongs in the other plates of fish seasoned and I'm ready to rock. God, I do love the theatre of cooking.It was served with a baked whole breadfruit baked in the embers of the fire available in many indian ,west indian food stores. Its a delicious form of light fluffy potato/sweet potato, bread cant really explain it but it really is worth seeking out it goes particularly well with grilled fish,I also love it with saltfish.Its a great background it is slightly sweet and bland (if that is possible) Image above. If you enjoy potato,sweet potato,yam,cassava you will enjoy it.

Grilled mackerel; serves 6 to 8

2 large mackerel, if you have access to billingsgate fish market you can often get the mackerel from the indian ocean.Smaller then the uk ones.Beautiful flavour, if not available dont worry the recipe has been made with uk mackerel I love this fish so much.

1 to 2 lemons depending on how large they are if they are big and juicy use one.

Salt ,pepper.

1tsp turmeric (this is something my mum does and her fish is the best )

This fish is done in stages so with the ingredients above take the fish removed guts and clean the stomach cavity .My mum always taught me to remove the black bits of the stomach and any blood clots (sounds gross but this is after all fresh fish)Slash the fish as shown in pic.Squeeze the lemon over the fish and in the stomach, this firms the fish and removes the scent,add salt and pepper,turmeric. Set aside and prepare the other ingredients.

6 to 12 chillies depending on how hot you like it .I love chillies so I use 12. cut into smallesr pieces

10g ginger peeled and cut in thick bits.

thyme(as pictured )about 10 little branches.

parsley a good handful chopped.

1/2 lemon.

In a pestle and mortar, (I have done this in a processor and in my opinion it does not have the same flavour the pounding action somehow develops a different flavour than the machine).Add the chillies,ginger, thyme, parsley,and pound until you have a mixture as shown . Add salt and lemon juice to taste it should have a kick and it should have a little citric tang.Use this mixture to stuff the slashes of the fish.(see picture). WARNING; please be careful with this mixture it is very hot do wash your hands throughly and be careful if you need to go to the tiolet,watch your eyes, It really burns!

At this stage the fish can be left quite happily.I often prepare this in the morning leave covered in the fridge and cook it in the evening.The flavours intensify.

When ready to cook set the grill on the cooker to the highest setting and grill the fish on either side if it starts to burn a little too quickly reduce the flame and cook slower, we do however want the fish a deep dark colour , you are trying to replicate the flavour you would get from a barbeque deeply charred and very smoky. It works very well in a conventional grill but taste even better cooked outdoors on wood burning fire/grill.

Serve with baked breadfruit and a simple cucumber salad.Baked breadfruit is done much the same as a baked potato in a conventional oven prick it and bake until soft, when you cut it, it will have a fibrous core remove this with a knife and eat hot immediately.Or you can boil them peel the thick green bobbly skin cut into wedges and remove the core.cover with water and boil,of the two I love it baked .Bon appetite!!!

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Originally uploaded by heldasland

Prepare the fish as shown

marinate

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Originally uploaded by heldasland

These two mackerels have been filled with the spice filling, it has been inserted into the slashes and added to the stomach cavity, my mum adds a little turmeric powder as this adds a very delicate perfume,also she says it enhances the colour of the fish.

Traditional pestle and mortar

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Originally uploaded by heldasland

Pound the chillies, parsley ,thyme,ginger 10g add the lemon juice salt and pepper(these are done to taste)

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Originally uploaded by heldasland

This the amount of parsley and thyme I have always found it difficult to measure this amount so i thought a picture says a thousand words

Piment

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Originally uploaded by heldasland

These are the chillies I use all the time for my food. you need 6 to 12 of these babies depending on how hot you like it.

Side a

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Originally uploaded by heldasland

The fish is ready to be turned over continue cooking the other side untill the fish is crisp and has cooked through

Perfect poisson grille

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Originally uploaded by heldasland

This is the finished article, deliciously crisp and brown skin the flesh will still be moist.Serve with some basmati rice and a seychelles salad for me it has to be a cucumber (recipe to follow).I think mackerel and cucumber go very well.

Peppers - Seychelles 2004

Peppers - Seychelles 2004
Originally uploaded by Jon - Cafesociety.org This photo from flickr( click on the photo for link)shows the perfect chillies from seychelles as my parents would use. I'm not sure that this was legal but whenever by parents went home this in fact was every year, they would always return with a bag filled with with this trio of colours, these chillies are really hot. My dad would have as any foodie a grin from ear to ear, knowing that pretty soon he would be able to tuck into the chillies grown in the family home.Whenever we ate there was always a jar of either pickled chillies( piment confit) or else a homemade chilli sauce in which these chillies are chopped with onions,parsley, garlic, lemon, oil and wine vinegar. Served as a condiment much in the way my children use tomato sauce.Even when we would have a an evening filled with wine (which in my home is very often), my dad would eat a chilli dipped in salt ,lemon much in the way a shot of tequila is taken. So, it seemed appropiate that we should make a jar of piment confit. This recipe is not one that has exact measurements all these depend on the jar you use, the size of chillies.

Piment confit
Ingredients;

As many chillies that fill 3/4 fill an empty jam jar,(these chillies are easily obtained from any indian grocer)Ensure that the chillies are in perfect condition blemish free.

white vinegar again enough to fill the jar,

salt now this should be 1/3 of the quanity of the chillies

Method;

Wash all the chillies and discard any that are not intact.Remove the stalks.

Sterlise the jam jars i nuke mine in the microwave or in the oven.

Place the piments in the jar.

Pour in the salt ,shake a little to disperse the salt evenly,

Fill the jar with the vinegar.Shake.

To allow the flavours to develop leave in a sunny postion for a minumum of a week, the longer they are kept the better. Eat with everything you think needs spicing up!!!

tamarind puree

Tamarind fruit pods have a characteristically tart flavour. They are used to add a sour taste to dishes such as sauces, curries, rice and to drinks and deserts. It is purchased in its whole, fresh form, or as a paste or concentrate, or compressed into a syrupy block.
Tamarind pulp is sold in compressed blocks.
Both ripe and immature fruit pods of tamarind provide a unique sweetish acidic flavour to dishes including meat, rice and vegetables. Green, immature fruits and flowers are used for souring dishes. Ripe fruit of sweet varieties (as pictured) are usually eaten fresh as a snack food, and ripe sour types are used for juices, syrups and sweets. Tamarind is really great in fish dishes (see recipe for fish curry)
Preparation

The pulp is usually sold dry and needs to be soaked before use. The juice is used to pickle fish and vegetables. Extracts of tamarind are used in flavouring products such as Worcestershire sauce and in a special Indian seafood pickle called 'tamarind fish'.Syrupy tamarind pulp is used to make sweets and drinks. Leaves from the tamarind tree can also be eaten as a vegetable. The pulped fruits are also used to manufacture drinks. These are often flavoured with other spices, such as ginger, pepper and lime and are sold carbonated in cans.The seeds are also edible and flour made from them can be used to bake cakes and breads. Roasted seeds are reputed to be delicious.

Tamarind Puree

300g block tamarind

Break the tamarind and cover with hot water.Use a fork (I use my hands) and squeeze the tamarind until the husks and seeds have separated from the flesh.Strain and reserve the liquid it should be thick.Use within one week, I measure them into teaspoon measures and freeze in ice cube trays and use from frozen. It is wonderful and I have been known to add a touch to some vanila ice cream it reminds me of rhubarb and custard. i love that tartness contrasted with the sweet ice cream . Delicious.

Seychelles fish curry

Seychelles fish curry
Serves 4
Preparation time less than 30 mins
Cooking time 10 to 30 mins


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Every since I can remember we have always had a jar of massale (curry powder) in the kitchen cupboard. A heedy scent of cinammon,cloves coriander seeds and many others would waft as soon as the jar would open.These spices were ground by hand in a pestle and mortar. I really find this job such a pleasure. In the 1960's it was quite difficult to get hold of the necessary spices needed to make a curry powder. My parents had this made in the Seychelles and whenever we run out at home a jar was promptly sent over. My mum swears by the one her brother has been making for years .Fortunately, all of these spices are so readily available ,so it is not at all difficult to recreate a massale.Everyone makes massale and with that the flavour will vary slightly some may add more coriander seeds, cumin,or slightly less peppercorns.However, seychellois can always tell whether it is a seychelles masalle as opposed to an indian or a west indian curry powder.I do appreciate that making a massale might seem like alot to do but it can be stored for along time in a dark cupboard in an airtight container I promise it is worth it.!

Ingredients

For massalé:

2 tbsp coriander seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp cardamom pods

1 tsp cloves

small piece of cinnamon

1 tsp ground chilli

1 tsp grated nutmeg

Method :

Dry roast the coriander seeds,cumin seeds,black peppercorns, cardamon pod and the clove,be careful and dont let them burn the flavour of the massale will be affected .Dry roast them until they are aromatic a few secs is all that is needed. Grind all dry ingredients in a coffee grinder or if you like have a go in the pestle and mortar(I've never been clear as to which is which,is the pestle the bowl?)Set them aside to cool a little and then grind ,add the chilli and the freshly grated nutmeg.

For curry:

900g/2lb snapper or monkfish if you want a boneless curry

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp sunflower oil

2 onions, chopped

2 tbsp massalé

½ tsp ground turmeric

2 cloves garlic, chopped

small piece ginger, chopped

3 tbsp tamarind water

leaves from 2 sprigs thyme

1tsp flat leaved parsley

450ml/¾ pint fish stock or water

Method

Take the snapper and cut into slices the width is up to you. All fish curries are cooked with the heads on and bones.I am a great believer that the bones add to the sauce and add a depth of flavour.If using monk fish cut into bite sized pieces.Season with salt and pepper .

Heat the oil in a heavy pan and fry the onion until golden. .Add the garlic and the ginger, thyme ,parsley and stir to ensure nothing sticks.Add the massalle,turmeric (be careful if it looks like it will burn add a little of the stock/water) Add the fish nd all the other ingredients. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes until the fish is ready.

Serve with basmati rice, a chatini (Recipe to follow shortly) salad.