Whoever thought I'd return from Ireland with a tan?! A place known to be overcast, dreary and rainy most of the year... At least, that was what I had thought initially anyway, until this summer spent in Ireland totally exceeded my expectations and swept me off my feet!
Out of the 20 days I was in Ireland, there were just a total of four days of downpour. According to the locals, that is very rare, almost unheard of. Hence, we spent every waking moment outdoors, which explains the tan. Even if there were showers, all you need to do is bear with it for 15-20 minutes for the wind to blow the rain clouds away, and the sun will peek out to greet you again... That was, at least, how it works in the coastal area of West Cork.
The Irish weather forecast never fails to crack me up... It is the safest, most well-encapsulated forecast that can be reported:
'Sunny spells with scattered showers'
Even the cows would agree.
What's more helpful and reliable would be the Barometer, and this old Irish saying:
"Pink sky at night, shepherds delight; Pink sky at morn, sailors be warned"
I absolutely love that saying! Not only does it rhyme and is easy to remember, it is also accurate.
Ireland is just bursting with outdoor adventure! I stayed with a friend in West Cork, a beautiful place where nature's playground is right at our doorstep.
Here are some of the many activities we did:
1. Fishing
I'd say fishing in Ireland is very encouraging for beginners. It was my first time fishing and I was already called Mackerel Queen from constantly catching what is known as a 'Full House' - whereby all the hooks on the hand-line are hooked with fish.
We'd then fillet the mackerel, dip the flesh in sea water, and there you have it -- Fresh sashimi... Can't get any fresher than that! ... Soy sauce would be a bonus ;)
But Mackerel is just a small catch, and used as bait for bigger fish, such as this:
Now we're talking. That's a good 12 pound Ling!
Notice the blue plate with a protruding hollow centre tied around the hips - that's a rod holder for supporting the fishing rod especially when reeling in a monster catch that's a fighter!
Fishing is indeed a sport. It takes some energy reeling in big fish that fight hard!
I participated in a local inter-cove fishing competition where the deciding factor for the competition was on the heaviest Pollock. As a newbie fisher(wo)man who was just out for the thrills and the experience, yours truly ended up catching two Codfish and many Mackerel (which were rather irrelevant to the competition apart from being useful as bait to catch our Pollock). But I was delighted and encouraged! These are the two Cods I caught:
Thankfully, Ms. Newbie KayLi managed to contribute to the team by catching a 4.5 pound (2kg) Pollock. Happy days!! It's such a pity I didn't get to take a photo of me and my biggest catch, as the boys were understandably occupied at the competition.
I credit my catch to the bountiful sea that surrounds Ireland, and my hosts, whom, through years of experience, have gained such skills and knew exactly where to go for a rewarding catch.
If it were a competition based on the highest number of fish caught, I think I would've stood a chance in winning since I had caught so many Mackerel... =p
These big fish will then be filleted for easy storage. Some have mastered the art of filleting the fish into a Butterfly fillet like in the picture below:
Looks like a little pair of trousers.
There are many ways of cooking these fish. One of it requires no cooking at all and tastes absolutely refreshing! Introducing -- Ceviche, a coastal Latin American dish.
Just dice up the fresh raw fish (Ling & Cod are good fish for this), tomatoes (seedless), coriander, red onions and some chilli, salt and pepper to taste. Lastly, add lime and lemon juice to it, and keep refrigerated for at least four hours to allow the fresh fish to soak up the lovely juices. The citric acid in the lime and lemon juice will not only marinade the fish, but also 'cook' it. You'll see when the fish turns white four hours later.
Serve cold and enjoy this refreshing appetiser!
2. Lobster Potting
This is a lobster pot - a device that is dropped onto the sandy seabed amidst the seaweed, used to trap lobsters and crabs (and sometimes other creatures too). I personally think the design above isn't the most effective in trapping lobsters and crabs, as the solid and smooth bucket opening makes it easy for crustaceans that enter, to slide back out again. I think the lobster pot in the picture below is much more effective:
The orange net within the pot is where we'd stuff the bait (usually fish carcass, or mackerel), while the bigger white net on your right is where the crustaceans would enter and get trapped as it narrows in. Moreover, the netting and stretchable material of the net makes it much tougher, oftentimes impossible for the crustaceans to make their way back out. Now THIS, makes the light at the end of the tunnel unattainable for them. Thus more effective!
Some of the other creatures that get trapped in a pot include: this white sea urchin (picture below) and the very common Dogfish (picture above). When I first saw a Dogfish, I thought we had trapped a baby shark! Dogfish are a common sight in lobster pots and the locals would often throw them back into the sea as they say Dogfish are very bony. It is also referred to as 'Rock Salmon'.
I have never seen a white sea urchin in my life. It's almost like an albino sea urchin with that tinge of pink. I've only ever seen black spiny sea urchins such as in the picture below, in Asia.
Another common sight in lobster pots would be these little star fish. We would just pluck them out and throw them back into the sea.
Now let's get to the real STAR of the topic... Lobster and Crab!
This would be one of the bigger crabs I've caught. Before using my hands to pull out my first crab from the pot, I have observed how my hosts removed these determined crabs who would cling on to the net of the lobster pot with their dear lives.
In order not to get snapped by their claws, you must either grab them by their hind legs or the sides of their body (the big shell), and then pull them out with force.
This is to show you the rough size of the lobsters we caught. The foot in the picture is Europe size 37.5.
Lobsters are expensive in the market, and the fact that we caught them from the sea ourselves, for free (through lots of effort), felt really good! But to be honest, I think crab meat tastes sweeter than lobster.
The picture above shows our biggest catch of lobsters. We dropped in 9 lobster pots the morning before and ended up catching 6 lobsters - 2 of which we had to let go as one was still quite small in size, and the other had one smaller claw.... Gotta give them chubby claws some time to grow ;)
When my friend saw the way I pulled out the lobsters and threw them back into the sea like how we would fling a Dogfish or crab out, I was immediately 'reprimanded' and warned to handle them with care... I was told to gently place them on the surface of the water, and let them sink and swim back to the seabed, at their own time......... Clearly they are revered.
It's funny how I was told to handle these precious lobsters with care, while I read that in the late 1800s to early 1900s, lobsters were so plentiful that prisons would feed inmates with lobster and farmers would pick washed-up lobsters on the shore, plough them under the dirt to be used as fertiliser...
The resident dog, Clyde - guarding our catch!
To prevent the lobster population from dwindling, female lobsters are V-notched at their tail flipper to mark an egg-bearing lobster, like in the picture below:
It is important to V-notch a female lobster's tail flipper before returning them to the sea, so it will be protected even without her spawn.
Question is: How do you tell if a lobster is female or male (if it doesn't have its underbelly filled with eggs)?
To determine the sex of the lobster, you need to turn it over and look at the swimmerets - the slim antennae-like features where the index finger is pointing at (in the picture below) - located behind the last pair of long walking legs.
The next picture gives you a closer look at the swimmerets I'm talking about.
Male swimmerets (or feelers) are stiffer, opaque and point up towards its body; While female swimmerets are flexible, translucent and crossed at the tips.
--> So, just based on pictures, without feeling their feelers, the picture above would be female, and the one below - Male.
Another way to tell the difference between a male and female lobster is to look at the width of their tails....
Females have broader, more rectangular tails compared to their male counterparts, so they can accommodate more eggs.
Mmm... Just look at that fresh and rosy dish! Puts a smile on my face already... :)
It was very fulfilling to eat our own catch from the wild. And the fact that I learned how to whip up that pinkish condiment on the side called Marie Rose sauce, made it extra tasty!
A typical recipe for Marie Rose Sauce include Mayonnaise, Tomato ketchup, Lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. But for our homemade version, instead of tomato ketchup, we used tomato purée --> [The difference between Tomato Ketchup and Tomato purée is that ketchup is seasoned more highly with salt, vinegar and sugar]. To add a little kick to the sauce, you can choose a dash of Tabasco instead of Worcestershire sauce. We also added fresh cream, some fresh herbs from the garden, and to add a little fun - some Brandy in it.
So what is the best and most humane way to cook a lobster?
That's a question that has plagued guilt-ridden chefs for generations.According to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, some of the attempts in reducing the agony of lobsters include hypnotising them by rubbing their backs until they stood on their heads (!!!), soaking them in fresh water, heating them slowly from room temperature to boiling...
The way experimenters determined the kindest way of dispatching lobsters would be by counting the number of tail flicks heard in the kettle before each lobster succumbed to the boiling water. And the method which garnered the lowest number of tail twitches was to put them in the fridge before cooking to numb them up - simulating what happens to them naturally during winter. Let's hope they have a pleasant dream while they go into hibernation in the fridge before thawing up in their happy, groggy state to realise they're in boiling hot soup!
The most common way to cook lobster is to steam or boil it in sea water (or salted water) for 10-15 minutes. And we should never eat a cooked lobster with its tail uncurled, as that indicates that it has died before it was cooked!
Great lobster tips.
1. Using Mackerel as bait
I love my oily fish, and to see them use one of my favourite fish as bait, felt like such waste, almost arrogant! I guess this is down to city vs country living. In the city, we do pay quite a price for oily fish such as Salmon, Tuna, Mackerel... What more for an Atlantic Mackerel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where I'm from. You can imagine the price we'd pay to eat the 'bait' they use....
I won't even get to the time they sliced off a chunk from a Cod fish to use as bait........*Surprise, Shock, HOR-ROR*...... A good, Atlantic Cod..........
On the other hand, it costs almost nothing for them, especially if they caught the fish themselves, and these Mackerel can be used to catch much bigger fish, such as this:
Now let us compare the fish above... And my little mackerel friends below...
No doubt - A good investment.
2. Throwing back a crab after removing ONE of its claw
That to me, was like slicing off the fin of a shark and throwing it back into the sea...!
First I heard the 'crack' as they twisted the claw of the crab out, next they kept that chubby claw and threw the crab back into the water..... My jaw dropped.
I asked Why they did that? And if the crab would survive?
That was when I learned that, crab claw is like a lizard's tail - It grows back.
(*Huge sigh of relief*)
They needn't have to take the life of a crab. Crabs can still survive in the sea with just one claw, and when they catch a crab that has one healthy claw and a tiny baby claw growing, the crab will be returned to the sea... Until its claws grow and is ripe for harvesting ;)
Despite the shock and horror experienced, I also will not forget the awe, utter joy and surprises that come with it... It is all these emotions that I love and seek, as it wakes us up and widens our horizons, to new knowledge and new ways. And that is the very reason Why we Travel, isn't it?
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Part 2 of my blog post on Ireland will come soon - with more activities in Ireland!
In the meantime, you can follow me on:
Instagram: @kayli_lum
Twitter: @kaylilum
See you there!
