Dear Seafoodies
It's amazing! On the very day I chose to entitle this latest communication to the Bute St Seafoodie community of afishionados, I immediately found that the forecast for the following day's weather was the beginning of the end of the Indian summer that had been enjoyed for the first half of September. Whereas the commentators' curse has a buoyancy such that it will always keep its head above water, it's not that there should be any sunken feelings... Not at all.
Apart from the weather having not yet broken entirely, Indian summers, when they happen, make their appearance in autumn. And this is a time of year when we find probably the greatest variety of fish and shellfish on the market stall which best suit dishes whose origins lie in the Indian subcontinent. Species such as gurnard, red and grey mullet, Dover sole and John Dory. Of the shellfish varieties, mussels, clams, crab and lobster are particularly embracing of the spices of India.
I have been eating 'fish curry' for about as long as I have been alive. It should therefore come as no surprise that, as the list of recipes on the blog grows, the list of Indian or Indian-inspired seafood dishes grows at a seemingly faster rate. And it's an inspiration to have found such authoritative influences over the last 2-3 decades as Keith Floyd, Madhur Jaffrey, Atul Kochhar, Rick Stein and Minakshie DasGupta.
My repertoire of recipes comes (for now!) primarily from the states of Kerala, Goa, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, though not exclusively so. This is not surprising. Favourite chefs Keith Floyd, Madhur Jaffrey and Rick Stein have all released TV series which included episodes in all of these states, and being coastal ones, in those episodes seafood featured abundantly. But such was the appeal of the dishes presented by Keith Floyd, I was soon on the plane to Kerala and Goa to meet with Indian chefs to taste and learn the recipes I had come to be made aware of.
Amongst the offerings currently on the blog are (images from left-to-right, top-to-bottom):
If you can source the ingredients, I do urge you try the Maachi Alleppey. You will toast the late, great Keith Floyd when you do. And I have no doubt he will be toasting you back!
