Fishing v Cooking Part I

I have come to the conclusion that my husband and I are obsessive, or should I say we both have an obsession for one thing. Unfortunately his is catching fish and mine cooking them and our paths cross somewhere in the middle. Alas, life would be harmonious if the fish he caught, I COULD actually cook, but sadly not. Aside from the legalities and dare I say, not being from Eastern Europe, the thought of stuffing and baking one of the specimens from the Grand Union doesn’t really appeal as it would probably kill us !

We often fight for space in the kitchen to prepare delicious morsals, me for the kids, and him for his precious fish ! Our passion for ingredients match our enthusiasm in preparing and experimenting with different flavours. HIS latest thing is making his own boilies (for those not in the know, these are little bait balls you stick on the end of a hook)! My cupboards are crammed full of spices which I often find half emptied due to his desire to come up with the next greatest fish-catching flavour of the year. I should thank him really as his need for a blender to grind up the cat biscuits (don’t ask!), peanuts and anything else that will blunt the blade, I gave him my cheap one and bought a new Kenwood ! The fact that he has ribbed me for a month that I haven’t actually used it yet in order to justify 120.00 purchase price is neither here nor there.
I have, however, been able to help him with my almost vast knowledge of ingredients, for his attempts at preparing his homemade bait. He often asks me ‘what can I stick in this to make it sweeter?’ or, ‘If I blend this with this, what will it taste like?’
Fortunately for my children, I don’t need his advice for my own compulsion. ‘Which brand of cat biscuits shall I put in their lunch box today ?’ or, ‘What colour maggots should I stick in the beef stew tonight dear ?’ are not usually questions that pop into my head.

So, today, after returning from a 24 fishorama at a local lake, windswept, cold, wet and hungry, I have to ask him the inevitable question ‘What’s the point? You could have stayed home, eaten salmon and got a decent night’s sleep?’. I guess the answer to that is simple. For the same reason I purchase 3 or 4 cooking magazines a month, record, and watch every single episode of Saturday Kitchen, Something for the weekend, Nigella or Masterchef, and, subsequently scour the shops for my all important ingredients. It’s an obsession, a compulsion, an overwhelming need to prove to oneself (and anyone else who’ll listen) that you could actually be GOOD at something.

My desire to cook, and his desire to fish may be miles apart, but one things for sure, the Garam Massala is ABSOLUTELY, DEFINITELY MINE !!

For those of you who ARE more interested in catching fish than eating them, please check out my husband's blog, yes about fishing at andywhapham.blogspot.com

tasteof-mylife.blogspot.com