by douglas reeser on 6.13.11
The head of a Goliath Grouper, or Jew Fish:
the centerpiece of Earth Runnin's Fish Head Stew
I noted in my last post that I would be sharing some of my food experiences from Belize and beyond over on la Cocina Dooglas. This one is my latest, and I thought I would share it here to entice those food lovers that read Recycled Minds to check out what I have in mind. Enjoy!
Living in the far south of Belize in the small town of Punta Gorda, it can be a challenge to find unique and well-prepared food. I've been hanging out at Earth Runnin's with chef and owner, Giovanni Foster, where I'm getting a first hand look at some great food creations based on local foods and traditional food-ways. He served shark and fry jacks for lunch yesterday, which I'll post some pictures of soon, but this post is reserved for the fish head stew we made a couple of days ago.
First, the fish head gets machete-chopped into large pieces -notice the good amount of meat that comes with the head...
After the fish head is chopped up and cleaned in a hot water bath, thepieces get marinated in lime juice, cilantro, kulantro, garlic, onion,
curry, turmeric and black pepper.
Cooking the Stew: A house made coconut milk base (from fresh-picked coconut),simmered with large-cut bread fruit, cocoyam, and okra, the stew thickens
and the flavors mingle...
The fish head is separated out after the stew is done cooking.One then dishes out the stew, and chooses their piece of fish -
with hopes of getting one of the prized cuts with an eyeball!
The finished product: a delicious bowl of fish head stew!
That is absolutely disgusting looking (though it does look like a fun time). How did it taste?
ReplyDeleteHey Tender B!
ReplyDeletewell... you're right about the looks, and if you saw this fish head in person, eating it would not be anywhere near the first thing you would think of. But... the fish head turned out to be excellent (I was lucky enough to get the eyeball, which I have discovered is pretty yummy).
Of interest to you and other veggie friends - at the same time as this was being made, I made a pot of this without the fish. So it had the homemade coconut milk, breadfruit, cocoyam, okra, sweet plantain, and the other seasonings mentioned. In either version, the stew is delicious! Cooking with the coconut milk is a bit tricky (keep stirring it!), but otherwise, it's not all that difficult (besides getting the tropical ingredients). Give it a try with some starchy root vegetables instead of the breadfruit and cocoyam - try green bananas and potatoes maybe?
Lucky you getting the eyeball! It looks........interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis looks crazy (good)! I look forward to reading more experiences both cooking and researching.
ReplyDeletepour that in my mouth.
ReplyDelete