Monthly Archives: August 2009

Random notes from tuna land

By Mikael | Published: August 26, 2009
In the spring, the blue fin tuna go the Mediterranean to mate. Many of these huge fascinating creatures have travelled from far away. Some have spent the winter here. It is during the full moons that they mate. There are fewer of them, at least the wild ones. Few seem to dispute that. Just how [...]
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Fish heads and tails

By Mikael | Published: August 14, 2009
Yes I know I was about to write about tuna and it is coming. Soon. Very soon. A fish head the other day made me wonder how many fish heads and tails are thrown away every day in the world. It is such a waste of great food.  In most fish, the end parts, head and [...]
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Limpets – overlooked pedestrian food

By Mikael | Published: August 9, 2009
Over the next week I will be posting about tuna belly, urchins and other well known delicacies. So I thought it would be appropriate to precede those posts with some perspective by this short post on a relatively forgotten pedestrian ingredient that merits a lot of interest, namely common limpets or patelles in French or [...]
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Figs – quick and simple

By Mikael | Published: August 6, 2009
This is a recipe for my friend Marc. He is waiting for the secrets behind a chocolate dessert but I found such nice figs today. Maybe another time Marc, I might reveal the recipe for the chocolate dessert. It is a simple preparation that is quick to make. The idea is to play with the [...]
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Sourdough crackers with toro-spread

By Mikael | Published: August 5, 2009
In a previous post I used sourdough crackers and here comes the recipe. Simply take a couple of spoons of an active sourdough starter and mix it with around 3 dl of water and  200 grams of whole meal spelt flour (T80 preferably). Let it ferment for a few hours in room temperature and for another [...]
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Octopus – Part 2 – Baby octopus

By Mikael | Published: August 4, 2009
There are few produce that I have a constant eye on the lookout for like for baby octopus. Whenever great examples of them, yes still crawling or just fallen asleep, cross my path I grab them before thinking what to do with them or if they will fit into the meal in which they will [...]
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Octopus – Part 1– tender or not and what is tender

By Mikael | Published: August 4, 2009
Octopus has bad reputation for being a rubbery and tasteless produce. I concur that more often than not, octopus served in restaurants fit this description. Correctly prepared it is a fantastic and relatively inexpensive produce that should not be overlooked. There are many ideas on how to tenderize octopus. Before we go into that, I [...]
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The Lampuki is on its way

By Mikael | Published: August 2, 2009
The fish that is most intimately connected with Malta for the Maltese is lampuki, or dolphin fish or dorado. It arrives in mid-August and disappears in December. It is a relatively cheap fish. These ones were approximately 25 centimeters long. Larger ones are fished at other times of the year. Lampuki is well suited to [...]
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Queen of the rocks leftovers

By Mikael | Published: August 1, 2009
  From the big dinner the other day there were some leftovers from the spiny lobster. It was a glorious 1,6 kilos female that was caught the same morning. Another time, I will write about these creatures more in detail and how to select them. I was pondering what to do with it. Other leftovers included [...]
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