Grouper Fish Head Pot

My wife said she has been very working really hard last week and I thought what's a better way to reward her with her favourite dish - one of her favourites! And because we are expecting a special guest in August to try my speciality so I need to start practising now. I went to London Borough's market this morning in search for fresh fish head.

I've sourced the same fish heads from the same fishmonger in the past, today I decided to look around to see if I have other alternative. First stop, I saw a Grouper (aka Coral Trout back in Australia). It's very fresh and its eye as clear and sparkly as my wife's ;-) I spoke to the guy who is busy arranging bream on the front counter. He told me the fish head is actually not for sale as he need it to make fish soup. I've asked him to name a price and I'll decide if I want to buy it or not. I think he really does not want to sell it to me, he weighted the head and decided for a long time before quoting me £10. I thought its on the expensive side so I declined the offer and walked off to my usual fishmonger. Unfortunately, today they don't have halibut fish head.

I cannot go home empty handed right? So I have to execute my Plan B. Luckily, my favourite grocer has morel mushroom today - Bulgarian not French, but hey, beggar cannot be chooser. Then off I went to buy 2 pieces of sirloin from Ginger Pig and 2 pieces of bone marrow. With a fall back solution safely in my hand, I'm starting to think the fate of a perfectly good fish head to be thrown into a pot of London water. I have to rescue it from such a savage scheme, so I thought a tenner it is then. I went back to the fishmonger and see if the offer still valid. He recognised me immediately and gave me a wink. I'm not sure what that wink meant, "now I have that sucker in my net" or "damn, I should quote him £15." Later, I comforted myself for paying extra because they will clean the fish for me while the other does not ;-)

Mean little bugger right? But one fresh bugger...hohohoho....my wife going to suck its eye out!

Just after a quick fried coated with flour. Ready for the next stage - stew in my favourite le Crouset pot. I don't have the end result as we are too busy eating!


My Plan B: Morel from Bulgaria

Need to soak in very salty water in order to....

I didn't believe it when I first researched on how to clean morel mushroom, now I know!

Sirloin from Ginger Pig

End Result

A way to say Thank You

I've injured myself 2 weeks ago. Its only a thumb but to a house husband it meant my wife needs to help out around the house. She washed the dishes but still unwilling to wipe the dining table though ;-). But the best part of it is she bathed me :-) For those who have not try it, get a knife and cut yourself now and hope your wife is as good as mine. After 2 weeks of tender care, my wound started to heal and I'm able to return to my normal post. So I went out to Billings Gate market to get some fresh produce to cook a special Thank You lunch for my wife - Linguine with lobster and langoustine.

For her...

...for me.

Thank you for looking after me for the last 2 weeks. OK now, I gotta go back to wash more dishes ;-)

Jordan trip, Dec 2008 - Wadi Raam

You may not have heard of Wadi Raam, but you must have seen it in movies like Lawrence of Arabia and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (where it was represented as Egypt).

I went to Wadi Raam with my tour group and we stayed there one night to experience desert life and the Bedouin culture. We rode into the desert on Jeeps and also rode on the camels for a segment. We also went by the visitor centre which is located right opposite the Seven Pillars of Wisdom (the mountains in Lawrence of Arabia's book) and it has a good exhibition about the local fauna and floral history.

As far as sleeping in the desert goes, I think one night was really enough. It was winter time and it got really really cold at night. The tents that we had was basic but there are running water which was a blessing.