Looks
like the Cockroach Catcher’s favourite food may be disappearing from his
favourite market: Billingsgate!!!
The
Telegraph:
Through spending time in the company of
these engaging East End characters, the film simply but powerfully showed the
sadness of the porters’ way of life disappearing. Although, as we watched Sri
Lankan fish airfreighted in via Heathrow and Cornish crabs packed for export to
China,
it was clear that no ancient statutes could hold back the tide of change.
Billingsgate ©2010 Am Ang Zhang
Having the advantage of living near Billingsgate Fish Market in London,
the Cockroach Catcher always finds great pleasure in getting the
freshest seafood and cooking it in the simplest possible way.
Last Saturday, we managed to get a dozen fresh scallops, three live crabs (brown crabs) and a two-pound Dover Sole.
At Billingsgate, one is allowed to pick
one’s own scallops and crabs. The trick with scallop is you want those
with tightly shut shells. In cold weather, freshness is not a problem.
Brown crabs are one of the best value
seafood in the world. The shells are hard and the flesh sweet and very
firm. Some like males (with their narrow underbelly flap) and others
prefer females (with a much rounder flap). Right now the males are good,
while the females are better just before Christmas.
The Dover Sole I got from my trusted
fishmonger from Selsey, near where I used to live. Dovers with their
nice firm flesh are amongst the best tasting fish around - truly a
winner amongst small flat fish.
All good cooks know that if you get the best ingredients, there is not much you need to do.
Scallops ©2010 Am Ang Zhang
Throughout the years, I have somehow
picked up the know how of cleaning fish and shell fish and so it was not
much of a problem.
Our favourite way of preparing scallops
is to steam them in their open shells and serve them in their delicate
natural juice. First, you need to take out the guts and the protective
lips. The lips you can fry separately with garlic and olive oil. With
very fresh scallops, all the seasoning you need is a few grains of good
sea salt crystal on serving. Steaming time is around two minutes and 45
seconds.
We had the scallops as starters and the
Dover Sole as the main course. As the fish was quite big, we decided
not to have the crabs on the same day. In true Teochiu style, we
steamed the crabs and then left them untouched in the fridge for the
next day. Cold Teochiu crab is a delicacy from my home village.
The Dover Soles as sold in Billingsgate
are already cleaned, so there is generally not much you need to do. You
can try to scale it before cooking, but the scales are tiny and not easy
to remove. As the skin is not normally consumed, it can be peeled on
serving.
The Chinese like their fresh fish
steamed. Steaming can be done in a fish kettle. If you do not have
one, wrap the fish in foil and put it in a pre-heated oven at 200 C for
25 minutes for a 2-pound fish. Steaming in a kettle takes about the same
time.
Dover Soles can be steamed without any
seasoning or with a few slivers of fresh ginger. Some like to serve the
steamed fish with a good quality soya sauce, mixed with a little bit of
oil.
The following day we had the cold crabs: delightfully fresh and sweet tasting. Any seasoning? None was required.
There was a good bit of roe. We often
make crab roe cakes by beating a couple of eggs in with the roe and pan
frying the mixture with olive oil and minced fresh garlic. If you like,
you can add some cooked rice as filler.
The paired wine: Puligny Montrachet 1er
Les Referts (2004). This has a delightful apricot and almond nose, and
in taste a herbal fruitiness and subtle buttery character typical of
Puligny Montrachet. A good match for the freshest seafood simply
prepared.
So ended two days of delicious Billingsgate fun!
Billingsgate: The Cockroach Catcher’s Guide
Billingsgate Market 1876/Illustrated London News/Honbicot at en.wikipedia
I remember the first time I went to Billingsgate Market
was when it was still in the old location (now an event venue). A
couple of friends came with us. We drove and parked outside there at
around five in the morning when it officially opened. In those days,
individual retail customers like us were seen as a nuisance and we had
to follow certain rules so as not to be in the way of the wholesale
business. We were not allowed to venture beyond lines clearly marked on
the floor, and we had to watch out for fast moving trolley loads of fish
that were hell bent on breaking your ankles. Once you were aware of
these minor rules you were treated to the delight of being in somewhere
special: arguably the best fish market in the world.
In
those days, even as retail individuals you had to buy like wholesale. A
box of anything was literally the minimum quantity one had to buy. We
could end up with 14 crabs, 5 lbs of shrimps and a whole boxful of sea
bass. And oysters by the basket too! But in those days, fish were wild
and you did not have to know how to distinguish between farmed salmon
and wild ones. Nowadays even sea bass can be farmed, although it is not
difficult to tell the difference: the price.
In the old days, a trip to Billingsgate was always followed by a big seafood party!
Now the new market is in Canary Wharf
and the easiest way to get there is by No. 277 bus. It is so popular
that parking can be a major problem. There must be a realisation that
retail customers are important too. By and large the first hour of
trading was done by the big boys; so the best time to be there is just
after six and before six thirty, before it begins to get too crowded.
The
question is often asked as to how one can tell if a fish is fresh. At
Billingsgate, the fish generally are, although some are better than
others. The usual rules of good sheen, firmness and bright red gills
apply. If it looks good, it is generally good. If in doubt smell it:
fresh fish is not fishy!
In
a wholesale market you expect the seafood to be fresh and normally they
are. Shell fish can go off pretty quickly in warm weather, but in the
winter months they are usually fine. The Cockroach Catcher applies the
rule of R for most shell fish and not just oysters. (Rule of R: Avoid
the months without an R)
The
best fish to watch out for in the summer is the wild sea trout: one of
the most delightful fish to have but it has a rather short season.
The
truth is that if you are prepared to get up early, you are going to be
treated to the freshest seafood you can get on this island, and at a
better price than you find at local fishmongers and supermarkets.
The alternative: you can get even fresher fish by the sea in Panama.
San Carlos Panama/ ©2010 Am Ang Zhang
About Billingsgate Market
Billingsgate is the United Kingdom's
largest inland fish market. An average of 25,000 tonnes of fish and
fish products are sold through its merchants each year. Approximately
40% of that tonnage comprises fish imported from abroad. The annual
turnover of the Market is estimated to be in the region of £200m. The
Market complex covers an area of 13 acres and is entirely
self-contained. The ground floor of the building comprises a large
trading hall with 98 stands and 30 shops, including two cafes; a
shellfish boiling room; a number of individual cold rooms; an 800 tonne
freezer store (maintained at a temperature of -26°C), an ice making
plant and 14 lock-up shops used by processors, catering suppliers and
merchants dealing primarily in trade sundries, non-perishables, poultry
and potatoes. Visit London
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