Eating My Words....Literally!

Do you remember me saying, "I don't like fish"? Well, I can sum up the past few days with the following phrases: 'Finding Nemo' and Fat Bastard's 'Get in my Belly!'. Honestly...I have eaten more fish Thursday and Friday than I have in my entire life. I'm not sure how I escaped it the first time 'round on Haida Gwaii. The land of fish and seafood. And get this...I LIKED it....I really did!

'Haida Gwaii Salmon' by Alvin Child, c.2006, www.pathgallery.com

Thursday, September 2, 2010: Welcome Home Lunch at my in-laws house. Menu: FISH. 

One thing you should all know is that here, on Haida Gwaii and in Skidegate, especially, food is what keeps people together. Lots and lots of food. And this was not just food...oh no, this was food prepared by the ladies of the Cha'atl clan (Willie's clan). I bet they'd even blow Gordon Ramsey's socks off! 

Now, I tried a different approach to fish this time. I used the phrase "it'll be good for my blog" as my mantra. There was lots to choose from but I settled on a fish sandwich (instead of my usual tuna and mayo, it was canned salmon and mayo), a big bowl of clam chowder (first time having clams...I was terrified), baking powder biscuit and some jum (Halibut stew with onion and potato). I was shocked...the fish sandwich was really good...even better than my usual tuna sandwich. Huh, who'd have thought! I can see now why Willie doesn't like canned tuna...this salmon was a hard act to follow. 

Next up...the clam chowder. It wasn't the usual creamy chowder you see at resturants or in a can..but it was in a clear broth with some vegetables. I think I may have preferred the cream base as it would make it harder for me to pick apart what I was about to eat. My first reaction...it looked like miniature pig snouts were floating in my soup. ICK!!!!!! I closed my eyes and opened my mouth....in it went....I let it linger for a moment before I tenatively chewed it with my back teeth (the closer to swallowing, the safer I was). Hmm....chewy...not overwhelmingly fishy, but distinct. Wow...really chewy...but not gross like the calamari I had at East Side Marios a few years ago. Okay...this is doable. I swallowed, smirked with satisfaction and took another big bite. WHAT THE HELL??? This bite was spongy...and upon spitting it out to examine my spoon's contents before proceeding, I noticed it had spots. I asked Willie's cousin what I was eating..she said to quit looking at it, that it was still clams, and to eat the soup. So, I did. I kept up the careful monitoring of my spoon as I finished the soup but it was pretty good. Wow....I was on a roll! 

Willie brought my a bowl of jum and I dug in (ha...good thing we came hungry...every family event is like a giant feast). I think this one was my favourite. I'm a fan of potatoes and onions anyway (probably why I'm such a big fan of corn chowder) but the halibut was SO tasty. I chomped on a big chunk of it and smiled. This was the first fish I had when I came to the island last year. I had been so scared to eat it but had enjoyed it immensely. Instead of throwing it down the hatch as I had done then, I savoured each bite of my halibut stew. I could taste the delicate flavour of the fish, the strong kick from the black pepper, and the fresh ocean saltiness from the seaweed. Yum. In fact, it was so good, we had the leftovers for lunch on Friday. 

Friday, September 3, 2010: Regular Day. Menu: More Fish...

One thing about living next door to Nuni and Chinni is, they know when you're up and about. We had had an exhausting day of travelling and introducing Noora to family and a nice long sleep to finish it off. We had planned to take it easy and relax Friday morning, maybe even unpack some things. Nope...as we were feeding the cats we heard "Oh, you're up are you?" from the bushes. Willie's mom was outside and wanted to see baby Noora haha. So, we packed her up and headed over for some coffee in our pyjamas. Well, coffee turned into breakfast...what was for breakfast? Jilgi....salmon jerky. Haha...good thing I have this blog or I may have opted for only toast. It was really good, though. I savoured my first bite and enjoyed being able to taste the wood smoke in the fish. Actually, there wasn't much fishy taste to it...it was just tasty. Noora really enjoyed it after I chewed it back into a hydrated mush. She ate so much I had to get another piece. Three pieces in total went down the hatch. We then followed it up with some toast. Wow...I didn't think I'd be having fish for breakfast but it was a very satisfying way to start the day. I kept the fish ball rolling and indulged in leftover jum for lunch with a baking powder biscuit. Ahhh.......so good. 

I had planned to make pasta and italian sausage for dinner but instead we went next door and had MORE fish. It was Willie's cousin's going-away party and, you guessed it, was another family feast..catered by the Cha'atl women again. This time I had a BIG chunk of Coho salmon which had been caught earlier that day by Willie's young cousin (very big accomplishment for a little guy). Other than the bones that snuck up on you, it was VERY tasty. It was so vibrant in colour and flaky and moist...my mouth was watering. I couldn't believe it! What is wrong with me...what's happening to the girl who hated fish????? I enjoyed some chow-mein, Ichiban salad (another thing I had never heard of until I came here last year), chicken wings, potato salad and....

.....

Fish Eggs...

Yup. This is where Finding Nemo really comes in. All I could think about was the scene at the beginning when Nemo and his siblings are all in their eggs. I ate Nemo. Ha...okay, they weren't clownfish eggs....but still. It took me a minute to get over the image in my head. So...my thoughts. Well? It was edible bubblewrap, basically. I chomped down and all I felt was 'pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop' and on and on. Each bite brought more popping...I chewed until I thought there couldn't possibly be any more popping...and there was. Ewwww.......it was the feeling of this more than the taste that got to me. They didn't taste bad...just had a strong 'fish' taste. They weren't nearly as salty as I remembered (I had tried dried fish eggs last year...against my will, haha) but these were dried onto seaweed...which could explain the ungodly saltiness. Did I mention I'm not a fan of salt? Hmmm...well...all in all...it wasn't bad. I'm not sure it's something I'll run to the table and fight over, but I didn't hate it either. I'll stick to full grown fish from now on, I think. 

So...I've definitely upped my Omega-3 levels and I feel good about that. I also beat my "it's fish and I hate it" attitude. I tried something new AND enjoyed it. Willie's quite proud of me, too. We'll see if he's as happy when I start picking away at his ration of peppered salmon, muahahahaha.