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Blue Cod in the Galley Kitchen

February 24, 2017 By Rachel Leave a Comment

Blue cod in the galley kitchen. Another tale from our recent trip to New Zealand.

Kitchens have a certain magnetism for me and wherever I go it’s a given that I’ll end up in the kitchen. Even on holiday, I can’t drag myself away from the pull of a sharp knife and a stove. Holiday cooking, particularly if it’s in another country, has the added interest of new ingredients and local fresh food. Our current trip to New Zealand is taking in some sailing and that is giving me the opportunity to cook in the galley kitchen of the yacht, SV Defiant.

img_1691It’s much smaller than I’m used to at home and with space at a premium,  our host Lisa has organised it perfectly and that makes it a very cook friendly space. Everything you need to cook a meal is included – a two ring gas burner, an oven and a microwave.

Galley kitchen

There’s a fantastic range of kitchen utensils, pots and pans, including extremely sharp knives – essential for dealing with the fresh fish we’re catching. Lisa has a tremendously well stocked larder of dry and tinned ingredients; along with a treasure trove of herbs and spices, and it’s the first port of call when a fresh fish lands in the kitchen. I love that kind of cooking – rather than having a recipe in mind, looking at the main ingredients and building the dish with what’s in store.

We’ve eaten really well and with limited space; one pot dishes have made the cooking more manageable and of course there’s the added bonus of fewer dishes to be washed.

New Zealand has a fantastic coast line for fishing and is blessed with a natural bounty of great fish. Kia Morna – Food of the ocean – is plentiful here.

Blue cod are endemic to New Zealand and we found them in plentiful supply although restrictions are in place to control the numbers caught and all had to be over 33cm. Our catch of four was within the legal limits in the Marlborough sounds.  Restrictions are also in place regarding the transportation of filleted blue cod in this area and it’s not unusual for fisheries officers to board pleasure boats to check the size of the catch. Filleting blue cod in advance of cooking means the officers are unable to tell if the whole fish was of legal size.

This recipe came from the ingredients we had in stock in the board pantry and the freshly caught blue cod provided by our eager hunter gatherers.

Blue Cod

Blue cod

New Zealand Fishing

The hunter gatherers go off in search of fish.

Blue cod

Blue cod
Blue Cod Hotpot
Print Recipe
This is a healthy and robust dish using fish, potatoes and vegetables. I used what I had the hand along with the freshly caught fish - the dish can be easily varied using different vegetables & fish.
Servings Prep Time
4 People 15 Minutes
Cook Time
35 Minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 People 15 Minutes
Cook Time
35 Minutes
Blue cod
Blue Cod Hotpot
Print Recipe
This is a healthy and robust dish using fish, potatoes and vegetables. I used what I had the hand along with the freshly caught fish - the dish can be easily varied using different vegetables & fish.
Servings Prep Time
4 People 15 Minutes
Cook Time
35 Minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 People 15 Minutes
Cook Time
35 Minutes
Ingredients
  • 500 G Blue cod -fillets I used 4 freshly caught blue cod which we skinned and filleted.
  • 2-3 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
  • 50 g butter
  • 1 medium Onion - sliced
  • 4 Garlic cloves - sliced
  • 4 medium potatoes - sliced
  • 1 leek - sliced
  • 1 red pepper sliced
  • 2 tsp mixed or Italian herbs
  • 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
  • 300 ml dry white wine
  • 100 ml water
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 juice of 1 lemon
Servings: People
Instructions
  1. Season the fish with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Optional - I marinated the blue cod fillets with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and a chopped garlic clove and set aside before cooking the veg.
  2. Heat the oil and butter in a large sauté pan - deep enough to hold all the ingredients.
  3. Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes.
  4. Add the potatoes and sauté, stirring occasionally until they start to colour and soften. Add extra oil and butter as required.
  5. Add the leek and red pepper and cook, stirring gently for a further 5 minutes. Add the herbs and chilli flakes.
  6. Stir in the wine and water, bring to a simmer, season and continue cooking until the potatoes and vegetables are almost cooked.
  7. Add the fish, cover and reduce the heat to low. The cooking time will depend on the type and thickness of the fish. The small blue cod fillets cooked in approximately 10 minutes. The fish can also be browned in a separate pan before adding to the main dish.
  8. Once cooked, check season, add a squeeze of lemon juice and serve with the remaining lemon wedges on the side.
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Blue Cod

 

 

Link up.

I’ve also added this recipe to the #recipeoftheweek link up at Emily Leary’s, A Mummy Too blog.

Blue Cod

Filed Under: Fish, Travel

Maori Culture

February 12, 2017 By Rachel Leave a Comment

Getting to know Māori culture

I’m having a break from the kitchen for the next few weeks to experience a relaxing life down under in New Zealand – and in my mind, there’s really no better way to get to know a country than through it’s people, it’s culture and it’s local food.  This is our second trip to the country and top of my list was to find out more about the Māori culture and to visit a traditional Wharenui or meeting house. With family living in New Zealand, I was familiar with some aspects of the culture – probably the most well known is the haka, the ancient Māori war dance performed by the All Blacks at rugby matches. There’s also the intricate carvings and artwork but I’d never experienced the rich and diverse cultural traditions of the people.

Maori carving

The timing of our trip was perfect as February 6th is Waitangi Day – the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi -the founding document of New Zealand. Signed in 1840, this is an agreement entered into by representatives of the British Crown and of Māori iwi (tribes) and hapū (sub-tribes). It’s named after the place in the Bay of Islands where the Treaty was first signed.

We didn’t have to travel far; close to where we were staying is the Waikawa Marae – a  Marae is a fenced-in complex of carved buildings and grounds and it’s central to Māori Culture. Each marae belongs to a particular iwi, hapū or whānau – a Māori family and is used for meetings, celebrations, funerals, educational workshops and other important tribal events.

Being Waitangi Day, the Waikawa Marae along with Māoris throughout New Zealand were taking the opportunity to share their culture during the day of celebrations.

Waikawa Marae

Visitors to New Zealand are encouraged to respect Tikanga Māori, the traditional Māori culture and customs that have been handed down through time. These remain as relevant today as they did in historical times and an example of this is the formal welcoming ceremony at the Marae. It’s traditional for visitors to respect the sacredness of the Marae and remain outside until officially welcomed onto the meeting grounds.

Those who have never set foot on a Marae are known as waewae tapu or sacred feet and must take part in a what’s known as a pōwhiri – a traditional Māori welcoming ceremony to remove the tapu – sacredness and make them one with the local people.

Maori welcome

The pōwhiri began with a powerful challenge – this is known as a wero and it was performed by a Māori warrior from the marae. The challenge is to to check whether the guests are friend or foe and of course, we had come in peace.  During the challenge the warrior laid a small bunch of greenery on the ground and this was graciously accepted by our Māori guide to show our peaceful intentions.

Maori welcome The  Māori women standing outside the meeting house sang a song of welcome and this signalled that it was acceptable for us to start moving onto the marae.

Our female Māori guide responded with her own call and very slowly and solemnly we began our short journey onto the marae. In keeping with the Māori tradition, the women stepped onto marae first; flanked by the men for protection, but, on reaching the wharenui,  everyone removed their shoes and the men entered first. It’s a further symbolic act of protection to ensure it’s safe for the women to enter. Our hosts greeted us with the ceremonial hongi, the traditional Māori touching of noses and the welcoming Māori greeting ‘Kia Ora.’

A number of speeches, all in the Māori language were made by the men and each of these was followed by a song in support of the speech. There was no translation but a short explanation of some parts was given by Māori woman – there had been some quiet laughter during the speeches and she was keen to tell us that they were not laughing at the guests but at a joke about the New Zealand cricket teams recent victory over Australia!

She also explained that Māori’s believe that everyone should have a say and talked about ‘wake eke noa,’ – a Māori proverb meaning ‘a canoe which we are all in with no exception. Simply meaning, ‘we are all in this together.’

Maori

Like many cultures, food is central to celebrations and in keeping with the Māori tradition of hospitality, simple food was shared at the end of the pōwhiri. It’s traditional for visitors to present a koha, a gift to the marae hosts – on this occasion it was money; and was seen, not as a donation from the pocket, but rather a gift from the heart.

Māori people see their marae as tūrangawaewae – their place to stand and belong and we felt honoured to have visited and shared their Waitangi Day celebrations.

 

Filed Under: Travel

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