Fish on a Friday

I grew up in a fishing town where my next door neighbour was a fisherman so I was very used to having fresh fish on a Friday when he returned from sea on a Thursday night.  In fact, my first career aspiration was to be a fish filleter in the local fish shed.  I was mesmerised watching them when I went down with my dad on a Saturday morning. Macduff was a bit stormy yesterday:

Macduff harbour by Andrew Taylor

Anyway where is this going?  Well it's Friday and that's the day they serve my favourite Salone meal at the Youyi canteen - fish, beans, plantain and sweet potato.  I have struggled with some of the plassas (general name for local dishes) such as cassava leaf and potato leaf but beans are definitely my favourite. I don't mind groundnut soup and jollof rice but beans, beans, beans will always win out.

Friday goodness

Fish isn't only for Fridays it is also for the beach. The pleasure surrounding a beach trip includes the thought of barracuda kebabs and  chips.  There are days when I choose the healthier couscous but usually it's lovely crispy chips.

Another fish staple is snapper and rice with pepper sauce.  This has the added challenge of eating a whole fish with a fork and spoon.  I struggle with the bones but get there eventually though not in the most elegant fashion.

In London it'll be back to salmon and haddock but I'll enjoy lots of baracudda in the meantime - yes I'm off to the beach for my last week.  I'll be back next Wednesday!  Look out for a few more pictures of blue skies and sand.