Seafood fortnight, time for a second helping of fish this week

The boxes go back aboard the Nellie after what what described as an "uncomfortable" trip owing to the unseasonal weather by skipper Stephen Nowell as Uncle Roger glances back at the boat before heading off up the quay for his supper.....
with the paint job on the Sapphire all but complete, its time for the beam trawl's chain mat to re-built.....
the conveniently labeled 'shopping order' has been delivered for the Twilight....
down the end of the quay the Crystal Sea II has just put ashore their latest trip into the back of a lorry......
driver Steve quickly gets the doors closed to keep the temperature on the fish down and then....
hops aboard the boat for a brew while he waits.....
for the crew to drop the landing gear before moving the boat to make way for the Geordie boys aboard the Valhalla who are due in any moment....
As it is Seafood's '2 week' fortnight, here is tonight's menu, a Thai red curry sauce shellfish dish......
using mussels......
and some not-so-local prawns. Try varying the ingredients according to what's in the fridge and veg box for this classic quck and pretty simple dish.

To start with, you'll need a few garlic cloves, half a dozen almond or macedonia nuts and a couple of lemon grass stalks ground up together and dry-fried gently. Add a teaspoon of shrimp paste near the end and mix. Add this to the sauce.

For the sauce, you could look up the recipe for making your own authentic Thai red curry - don't bother, just track down a shop (in Penzance, that is Chan's off the top of Causewayhead) that sells the Mae Ploy brand - they use exactly the right ingredients with no artificial ingredients or preservatives; this will save time and effort and better still, a tub will keep in the fridge for ages. Cut the corner off the sachet of sauce and squeeze out a lump the size of a walnut - don't follow the amounts they suggest on the tub or you'll blow your head off!

In a wok, quickly fry a finely chopped onion till golden, add the curry paste and heat through before adding a tin of coconut milk. At this stage, add any additional veg that takes your fancy - chopped - peppers, corn, celery, courgette etc and cook through. Only at the end would you add a roughly chopped pak coi or similar leaves and some parsley. Takes about 15-20 mins to cook through gently.

Near the end, add the mussels to a pan of boiling salted water 2cm deep and cover - 2 mins is all you need. Add the shelled (or not - personal preference) mussels to the sauce along with a handful of prawns - a single small squid (in rings) would would really make this dish! Garnish with chopped parsely or coriander and serve on a bed of brown rice.

Of sail, oars and engines

Showing signs of age, the Albert Pier in Penzance Harbour....

under sail, three pairs of oars and diesel power in the shape of the Scillonian returning from the Scillies come together at the entrance to the harbour...

a final spurt from all hands ends local gig Sowenna's training for the evening...

from days of old when a there was a direct rail connection from London's Paddington to its western-most destination, the Albert pier...

it won't be long before the harbour is emptied of yachts for their winter lay-up...

looks more like a new shellfish storage tank - the work to divert the stream through a new culvert continues at the end of the prom, Wherrytown...

fresh back from France, the Elizabeth Veronique has changed her colours...

down off the slip and there is still plenty of painting to do aboard the GaryM...

a common way to dredge these days is to mount a JCB or similar aboard a barge - a far cheaper operation than maintaining a dredger and more versatile.

The birds

The Jessica Grace is escorted to the gaps by dozens of gulls looking for scraps as the deck is washed after the last haul.....
until they break off the chase and turn to wheel high above the light....
the repaired propellor is back in place aboard the Gary M on the slip......
the Jessica Grace has made it to a berth astern of the Dom Bosco and Intuition, both landing to the vivier lorry.

Grimmy Mike airs his views in the Mail on Sunday

Mike Mahon, Newlyn's self-styled rebel with a cause made the pages of a national newspaper this weekend after he dragged reporter, Robin Page aboard the J-Anne to see first hand the problem of dumping over-quota fish.

Sea of sardines

Last of the grub to be passed aboard then its bounders for Cornwall Seafood's inshore quality hero Roger Coutsoubus aboard the Nantewan...... a more sedate approach is taken by one of the regular grey mullet chasers on the pontoons.....
who better to watch and learn from than Dad aboard the boat.....
live-aboards sahe the same domestic problems as those ashore with no space to dry, sunny Sunday meant the washing lines were full.....
an early start for one of the few reamining late season overseas, German yacht Freyja II.....
in the wheelhouse of the scalloper Jacoba it's time to catch the forecast.....
flat calm in the Bay sees a sea of sardines, on the market this morning one of 20 tubs from the Pride of Cornwall....
the Amanda had a decent run of squid......
Ocean Fish have their brand new tubs filled with over 17 tins of sardines from their boat the Resolute.....
iced, watered and ready to go......
as Jake Freethy supervises the remainder of the catch from the Pride of Cornwall.

Seafood's 2 a week has arrived!

September the 5th saw the start of Seafood fortnight's, "2 a week" campaign to encourage people to eat fish at least twice a week. Local restaurants, fish friers, producers and other fishy venues of all sorts have signed up to take part in the festivities in the South West.
Here's a suggestion courtesy of that well known chef, Carluccio taken from his classic book, "Complete Italian Food"....
so, not wanting to be left out, 'Through the gaps' has kicked off the fortnight with a classic Sicilian dish, "Sarine Alla Beccafico" - rolled and baked locally caught Cornish Sardines of course - though, in addition to the recipe in the book, and courtesy of someone who lived in Taormina in Sicily, the fish were marinated in white wine vinegar for 5 minutes before being stuffed...
The dish visually represents small birds known as 'fig peckers' which the Italians were ( and probably still are in some places) very fond.
plated with a few carrots and broccoli and ready to go!

While the rest of the country is deluged

With a big ground sea running in from the Atlantic....
which meant that, unusually for Mounts Bay, over a dozen surfers took advantage of the big, but at times messy surf - with this guy enjoying the dramatic backdrop so much he's surfing backwards to get a better view!....
as did a number of Penzance canoeists....
the base for these guys, Penzance Canoe and Sub Aqua Club is here behind the CKS....
there may have been plenty of people down the back of the stone quay looking for the end of this one....
regular visitor, Admiral Gordon fresh from her annual paint-up....