Scrobs is reading the book about 'Dad's Army', by Graham McCann, as we've been watching the whole series - again, recently.
One of the passages discussed in the book, is where Capt. Mainwaring gets riled at Sergeant Wilson being a member of the golf club, where he had some smoked salmon for lunch, and Mainwaring shrieks that he's been trying to get membership there for years and that he only had a snoek fishcake at 'The British Restaurant' in Walmington-on-sea!Now, being somewhat inquisitive (even at 10.00pm), I realised I hadn't a clue what 'snoek' was, and imagined it to be some sort of mishmash of plankton, whelks and some sort of vegan slop, so looked it up!
What a great fish it is! It's a delicacy in South Africa, and I hope you won't mind me posting a link to a fabulous culinary website from a lady who really knows these things! She also gets a lot of the history of the fish into her post, which seems to ring true with our way of life these days!
https://www.cooksister.com/2006/12/snoek_scrumptio.html?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=email_this&utm_source=email
I've never had snoek - has anyone here?
(I recommend the book too - it's well written, and very informative)!
13 comments:
RE salmon
In my envoronmental studies at university we were told about "indicators", things that can indicate the health of an ecosystem or climate from before records began. There is tree ring evidence, fossilised pollen, insects etc, and even pictures (Frost on the Thames) etc there are the historical references and even literature of the time in question.
England had many vinyards at one time, conveniently ignored by climate alarmists.
But, I digress, an indicator of the health of rivers can be shown from the historical record where, for example, apprentices along the river Tyne, once one of the most polluted rivers, objected to being fed fresh salmon:
"The Fisheries on the Tyne were, in ancient times, of great importance; and the salmon (which is the finest of the species) so plentiful, that apprentices covenanted to be fed with it only twice a week. On June 12, 1755, upwards of 2400 salmon were taken in the Tyne, and sold at 1d. and 1¼d. per pound; and again on June 20, 1758, upwards of 2000 were taken in the river. At the Fishery near the bar, 149 fine salmon were taken at one draught. One salmon, taken in the Tyne on May 29, 1760, weighed 54 pounds! On August 6, 1761, no less than 260 salmon were caught at one draught at Newburn; and in June, 1775, a still larger draught was taken near the Low Lights. The deterioration of the Fisheries is ascribed to the lock at Bywell and Winlaton mills, which prevent them from passing up the shallow streams in the breeding season; and also to the increased craft upon the river, and the deleterious mixtures that are carried into the stream from the lead-mines and various manufactories on the banks of the river"
Snoek on the BBQ smothered with smooth apricot jam is one of my favourite meals I miss from South Africa. Smoked Snoek pate on toast is another
I'm sure my mother mentioned snoek as an unpopular fish sold in tins during the war.
Fed up with Salmon MC!
Take's a bit of a beating that!
Gunker, I really knew nothing about it, and the mention of apricot jam was in the article too, but I just didn't believe it!
Sounds fab!
MrH, apparently the tinning process was pretty dire, so a lot of it was disliked!
I knew a chap from Durban, South Africa and he was quite keen on barbecues, they generally consisted of piles of beef, and if anyone requested a salad he would direct them to a table full of barbecued chicken.
That's what I like about these blogs, we start with Mark IV zephrs and within two or three comments are discussing homosexual horses and the undeniable evidence the blogger is starting up a kebab van.
If he'd had a bbq in Scotland, MC, a Glasgow salad would have been a bag of chips - so I'm told!
I've never, ever had a kebab, and long may that delicacy stay well away from here - the shop a few miles away has the elephant's leg somewhere behind the greasy window, and the photographs of the stuff they dole out have all faded to look just like a collection of road-kill victims after a Saturday night...
Hammersmith Odeon in the seventies, after seeing Black Sabbath, Kings Cross and a late train there was a kebab shop across the road,and I thought the sauce they offered was tomato ketchup and asked for more and more, next day a hangover with the added delight of frequent liquid visits to the toilet and burnt esophagus.
I'm glad you have given up on the kebab van, it was a non runner from the start. leave it to the professionals, they know what they are doing I do believe I have seen some eyes and ears sticking out of these lumps of meat.
Appropos of nothing, I do wonder about the size of some of these takeaways offered without utensils versus the average size of the human (homo Mrs Goosegirl not a gay horse) mouth.
They do not co ordinate in any meaningful way which is strange.
Regarding utensils, Spike Milligan did say that despite the Chinese claiming to have invented everything, their insistence on chopsticks meant they lost out on custard.
Mrs Chin is rather passive aggressive sometimes, in that she insists on chopsticks, so I make sure on these occasions of national pride, that I cook fried eggs for breakfast, with extra oil, and I just sit and watch the performance,a sight to behold with her dogged insistence of using chopsticks and the egg gracefully sliding back down again, youtube beckons...
I never mastered chopsticks! They always got in the way of a decent piece of lamb etc., and after a few hours, the fun of trying sort of wore off...
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