Fish and Chips [john dory]

Been out in the sea today, and nailed some john dory for dinner, which is quite a treat, it is a favourite of mine. Some background first on the fish and the capture thereof.

The fish:
John dory (JD's) are what freedivers refer to as a 'weedline' species. They hang around a lot where the weed meets the sand. They are an ambush predator, and have a mouth that telescopes out to suck any prey in, which is normally small baitfish. They rely almost entirely on camouflaged for defense, and aren't great swimmers. This means if you can spot them, they are an easy target. Spotting them is easier said than done though. I thought I was taking video of them today but my camera didn't have a memory card in So instead I'm going to post you a vid taken by a mate last year at the same spot (I'm not there). Have a look at how camouflaged they can be!



The food:
Although it is really just a facet of out British colonial heritage, fish and chips is very popular in New Zealand. The Aussies would pretend that we say it 'Fush and Chups', but that's ok because they say 'Feesh and Cheeps". Anyway, Fish and chip stores are everywhere here. If you added them all together, it would be the biggest player in the fast food market in NZ, and that isn't counting all the meals of fish and chips consumed in real restaurants or pubs and so on. So it's a bit of a cultural icon, and considered part of 'kiwiana'.

Traditionally it is all deep fried, the fish is battered (beer batter if you're lucky), and wrapped in old newspaper. No, really, newspaper. nowadays We aren't allowed newspaper anymore, something to do with the carcinogens in the ink, so the shops mostly use unprinted newspaper sheets.

My take:  I don't really deep fry much stuff at home, as it's a bit unhealthy etc, so here is my version. I flour my fish fillets with a bit of salt, cracked pepper, and sometimes lemon pepper seasoning, and shallow fry in a cast iron pan with a bit of rice bran oil, and bake the chips in the oven with a sprinkling of turmeric and paprika and a grind of black pepper. Then it gets served with salad (from the garden). You may spot the leftover pasta salad in this shot as well, but I've been swimming all day and was very hungry Also there is my balsamic, chili and basil vinaigrette (yum!)

Great vid and write up mate.
but hey they dont look like me

You'd be right at home here in Rhode Island Kiwi...I think we have more fish and chip shacks open on Friday (heavily catholic area) than just about anywhere. Best liked fish is Haddock, but can be so pricey that it's quite normal to see Scrod, or even Bluefish used in season.