The Stolford Mud-Horse Fisherman

Views across Bridgwater Bay from Stolford

The Boy was on a mission. We set off into the Somerset levels in search of a fabled fisherman that he had first heard of on the Beeb's Coast programme. Armed only with the name of the hamlet where he was based, we drove for only thirty minutes from where we live to Stolford on the coast of Bridgwater Bay in Somerset.
Here resides the last remaining mud-horse fisherman in Britain who works the mud flat on his wooden sled. Adrian Sellick comes from a long line of mud-horse fisherman and you will see him out all year round. There's something incredibly romantic about the thought of him casting himself out in all weathers and venturing out into the bay on his home-made drift-wood contraption. He tends to his nets, strung between posts driven into the mud, which trap fish as the tides turn. On the day that we went, the chiller in their tiny garage-cum-fishmonger was still packed with fish. Brendan, his Father and a former mud-horse fisherman, now runs the shop and shows me a handsome bass as long as my arm which could be mine for a mere £12. It could easily feed eight or ten people! We choose a lovely looking mullet instead which is a more reasonable size (though still a feast!) for two at a bargain £3. As he expertly guts, scales and washes the fish, Brendan tells us how the fish aren't even 24 hours out of the water - and you can tell how fresh they are, simply by looking at them.

I feel surprisingly proud that this tiny family business is still running, mainly I think down to the support of the local community. Though labour intensive, the practise is extremely environmentally friendly and much kinder to the seas that the common methods of fishing used today. We hurried home to make the most of our fresh fish and cook up a real treat.

Adrian and Brendan Sellick of the Stolford Mud-Horse Fisherman can be contacted on 01278 652297.

Mullet - primed and ready to go into the oven

Mullet en papillote with fennel, chilli and lemon

You will need:
1 mullet, gutted, scaled and washed
1 head of fennel
1 lemon
3 springs of rosemary
1/2 chilli
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 glass of white wine

- Preheat the oven at 190C
- Slice the fennel, lemon, chilli and garlic
- Unroll and cut enough baking foil and parchment to go around the fish (if you have a long fish, like we do here, roll out two lengths and fold to join together). Lay the baking parchment on a kitchen counter and then lay the foil on top.
- Lay slices of fennel in the middle of the foil in a mound and place the fish on top
- Stuff the cavity of the fish with the rosemary sprigs, lemon, chilli and garlic
- Bring the foil and paper up and around the fish to seal leaving a small gap at the top of the parcel (about the size of a small fist). Into this, pour the wine and seal firmly.
- Place on a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes. Resist the urge to open the foil and check how it is doing. The fish will cook in its own steam and juices so opening it won't help! Eat when the flesh is opaque and falling off the bone.

Freezer Stash

We've been filling our freezer. Full of meat! The Boy and I have purchased half a pig (bred and butchered locally by the Boy's boss) which was then shared between my parent's, the "in-love's" (what my parents suggest I should call the Boy's parents seeings as we're not married, hence they are not "in-laws") and our freezers. We now have a rather stuffed ice box and lots of potential for meals for much of the season.

Election Eats

I'm on the train returning homeward after a long day and, although I have spent weeks trying not to, my mind is full of election thoughts. Tomorrow, we go to the polls and we decide our fate for the next four years. Serious stuff. Many of my fellow passengers seem to agree as they discuss hung parliaments and manifestos quietly amongst themselves or bury themselves deep in the thick pre-election newspapers. Above the clack-clack of the track, the rustle of the numerous Metros and the fuzzy announcements, a conversation between two business men floats into my consciousness. They're not deep in parliamentary debate, oh no. They're discussing the culinary highlights of Bristol. One is planning to surprise his spouse with a meal out as an alternative to watching the ensuing election frenzy on the box tomorrow night.

Some might say our future hangs in the balance but its good to know that, despite all the seriousness, the still room for foodie talk. Which leaves me wondering what's for dinner tomorrow night!

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Delicious Diaster?

Everyone seems to be talking about The Delicious Miss Dahl (on the Beeb, if you haven't already heard). Having read countless slamming reviews, I thought I would give Sophie a try for myself. And so, I donned my open mind and dived into her 'Romance' episode.

In a way, opposite to the verbal/written gang culture/one-up-manship that seems so prevalent today, the more negative articles I read, the more I hope I would like the programme. I'm not really one for jumping on the band wagon and burning people at the steak so I tried to find positives, really I did.

But (you knew it was coming...), my overwhelming reaction was to cringe. It was so twee! From Sophie herself - prancing about in girly outfits looking disgustingly svelte and battering her eyelashes seductively at everything (whether it moved or not) - to her whisking an egg in the chintz bone china tea cup... Argh! It was so sickly sweet and saccharine that I wanted to gag. Don't get me wrong, Miss Dahl (well, actually Mrs Cullum as she is now) is gorgeous looking but there's nothing else to the programme. The cookery was dull, her poetry recitals were just plain embarrasing and her obvious Aren't-I-so-family-orientated-and-lovely name dropping of her grandmother made me wince.

Still, fear not, fellow viewers and critics. Word on the grape vine is... she's been canned!

Milky Issues

Got milk?

We buy ours from the supermarket and have done since we moved to our new place. Back in the day, I used to work for Sainsburys. This was before ethical eating, food miles and Waitrose really took off. While I was there (I think), they brought out a new and revolutionary product. The milk pouch. The idea being that you buy a special jug and plonk a milk bag into it instead of buying plastic bottles of milk, which will reduce the plastic needed for packaging and in turn, reduce the energy required in the production process. Nice and green! Well, white. I was skeptical because it seemed like a faff. Also, milk in a bag? A bit weird, in my opinion. In fact, I thought they'd scrapped the idea years ago until the Boy and I spotted them during our weekly supermarket trawl. Shows what I know, eh? Coincidentally, I stumbled upon this article not days after. Apparently Waitrose have trialled a similar system which went down like, well, a out of date pint of the white stuff. Meanwhile, Sainsburys milk pouch system is flourishing with sales, apparently, increasing by over 100,000 a week making up one in ten two-pint purchases.

Now, we actually um-ed and ah-ed about getting one of these; both the Boy and I are relatively enviro-conscious and living in a flat, we don't have a huge amount of space to store waste so it would be potentially win-win. Trouble is, I think we can go even further. Reusing bottles before - eventually - recycling them seems like a much better way to go, in my mind. While I was growing up, my parents employed the services of a milkman (no inuendo, please) but gave up when we started to get off-milk and slightly fermenting orange juice. Not good. I'm now starting to reconsider because, as well as wanting to be green, I'd like to support the local smaller businesses and producers. Ideally, I'd like to buy milk straight from the dairy - more feasible for me than for many as I live out in the sticks. Now I'm starting to wonder if I should consider our local milk man who apparently delivers West Country milk and even organic fruit and veg boxes! Might have to consider this one.

News Bites

This week:

Tugged at my heart-strings

We heard of the death of Nathan Laity who died tragically young at only 23 (a year older than myself). His family have blamed his gruelling hours as a senior sous chef at the Tate Modern. Having recently escaped a stressful and demanding job myself, I can sympathise with the loneliness and stress involved; certainly, my family and The Boy were concerned with the work ethic. Very sad but, I imagine, increasingly common especially for (experience-) hungry young graduates who are keen to prove themselves.

Controversy of the week

A survey by the UK food magazine, Olive, and the French food mag, Madame Le Figaro, has 'revealed' that the British are 'better at cooking than' the French. Who cares? I think. Well, many, it seems! Be ready for some spleen venting.

Recommended Recipe

My colleague recommends this delicious and simple Chicken and Leek pie recipe for a hearty meal.

In Season

Try rhubarb. I tried out a variation on this Nigel Slater recipe. I sprinkled mine with cinnamon and a little nutmeg before roasting

Next week:

I'm off to France to go skiing for a week. What a treat! We'll be self catering amongst six of us so I'm sure I'll come back with many culinary tales. Bon voyage!

Maccy D... iets?

(The Times)

I've never been on a "diet". I'm naturally relatively slim and have a highly developed guilt gland when it comes to any remotely unhealthy food. Therefore, I tend to eat 'healthy' foods more often than not and also exercise once in a blue moon. I am, therefore, no expert in the world of diets but I can imagine that signing up to a diet plan that cites McDonalds as one of its staples might be a bit like making a deal with the devil.

Don't get me wrong. I like burgers. Anything in moderation is unlikely to do you a great deal of harm. Still, it seems to me that people turn to diet plans and groups because they need guidance. They can't do it alone; they don't know what they should eat or how to make the necessary changes to loose weight. Having known a few people who go in for the whole being-weighed-regularly-in-public-thing (seems a little Medieval or even town fair-ish to me), dieters tend to see meals that are endorsed or 'authorised' by their cult as staples. They cling to the familar; things that are marked as good, allowed and okay.

I can't imagine the cosmic void that will be caused by the juxtaposition of the Weigh Watchers and McDonalds logos. I just hope it doesn't envelope our planet and crush us to a fine pulp.

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