Snoek braai

Last Wednesday was a public holiday; "Youth Day" and it was really great to have a break in the middle of the week so we decided to make ourselves "youthful", Dick and Janet wanted to come up to visit us for the day and we invited Frank around as well. I had been given a lovely big, fresh Snoek so we decided to entertain our friends with a bit of a seafood meal.

Seeing as how there was to be four of us who enjoyed seafood I brought thirty oysters and a couple of kilos of fresh mussels for starters.

This was not really so good for (my) Janet as she doesn't eat mussels or oysters but she had a snack of fresh ciabatta bread while we gorged ourselves.

Here I am with Dick in our Bafana Bafana tee shirts about to start on the oysters, Man they were delicious! We were supporting our team who were playing later that day.
After that it was time for the Snoek, as you can see with the head and tail cut off it was still a pretty big fish! Whilst I was braaiing it I basted it with a sweet sauce;

- approximately 50g butter

- half a cup of lemon juice

- one teaspoon crushed garlic

- half a cup of smooth apricot jam

- generous sprinkle of mixed herbs

Heat the pot over the fire and stir whilst it boils, mix well until it reduces to a thick, sticky baste.

Brush the fish liberally on both sides whilst braaiing over hot coals, turn frequently so that it does not burn and do not overcook, break a piece open to check that it is white right through and remove it immediately. Janet made a lovely creamy potato dish and we served it with peas and fresh ciabatta bread, a lovely seafood meal and there was plenty of fish left over which I later flecked and de-boned and froze to make a "Smoorvis" pot at some later date.

I will give you the recipe for Smoorvis later, it is a delicious mix of fried onions, potatoes and fish served over rice, a west coast favourite as is the Snoek braai.

This was my plate of food, I always go last and if no one else takes it I go for the belly portion of the Snoek which in winter is always lovely and fat - much like my own actually!

We were lucky to have a break in the weather for the braai, it had been raining right up until an hour before and I was beginning to think that I would have to braai under an umbrella, which I have had to do before, but it cleared nicely and we had a very pleasant afternoon.

For me there is not much that can beat a good fish braai, we do quite a lot if I can talk Janet into it - it's time for another seafood day!