I’ve been hammering home the sustainability message over the last few weeks and talked about ‘unloved fish’, ‘seasonality’, ‘salmon, wild versus farmed’, ‘prawn versus shrimp’, possibly all a tad too serious. But I am trying to get some change in peoples mind sets, so I will continue… after a short break.
So, what to talk about? I thought a couple of things… 1) the ‘alternate Christmas menu’ and 2) some fishy yarns. Anyway, lets start with the latter first. You may enjoy sharing them at Christmas.
I liked this yarn about a father and son fishing one summer’s day. Whilst they were out in their boat, the boy suddenly became curious about the world around him. He asked his father, “Dad, how does this boat float? The father replied, “Don’t rightly know son. “A little later, the boy looked at his father and asked, “Dad, how do fish breath underwater?” Once again the father replied, “Don’t rightly know son.” A little later the boy asked his father, “Dad, why is the sky blue?” Again, the father replied, “Don’t rightly know son.” Finally, the boy asked his father, “Dad, do you mind my asking you all of these questions?” The father replied, “Of course not, son. If you don’t ask questions, you never learn nothin’.” Dads eh!!!!!.
I love fish, not so much fishing, although I gather it is a fantastic sport which leads to the question of what kind of music should you listen to while fishing? …… possibly something catchy??
OK, so that is enough. Now onto Christmas menus. Actually, historically in the Roman Catholic church the traditional Christmas meal is on Christmas Eve. And it is fish. This dates from the Roman Catholic custom of abstinence from meat and dairy products on the eve of certain holidays, including Christmas. However, putting that to one side, if you’re still unsure what to serve on the big day or are not particularly keen on eating the same old Christmas roast, here are a couple of alternative ideas to liven up your Christmas feast.
Why not surprise your guests with a Norwegian-style whole salmon as your Christmas dinner centrepiece. It’s easy to make: simply rub the fish with herbs and spices and stick it in the oven. When seasoning, just make sure you’re not shy with the lemon and dill – they’re the perfect match for salmon and will pack the moist, flaky fish with flavour.
And then, as a supplement, what about Spicy Mango Scallops. Get some good Canadian scallops as they will be larger and more suited for this recipe. This sweet and spicy seafood combo gives off enough heat to make the whole family warm up to its great flavors!; cooking times would be off for the smaller bay scallops.
If you need more, have a peep at this website, https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-gatherings/. There are some cracking menus there.
Start planning now. And back to normal in my next article with more sustainable seafood info.
Chris has lived in Pak Sha Wan, Sai Kung for many years. He has been in Hong Kong since 1982, and is now in the family business, Pacific Rich Resources.
He is passionate about preserving the oceans and his blog, where this article was originally published, came out of his frustrations in dealing with supermarkets and them not being responsible. So he’s blogging, and working with others, to try to create change through social media
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