Tokyo Fish Market

Another blast from the past, a little bit from my travels while working on some of the most amazing cruise ships. This time it is about the visit of the Tokyo Fish Market, something that will always stay in my memory. I think it is one of the most amazing markets in the world and it was an eye opener for me at the same time....but let me tell you the whole story

While being the Executive Chef on "The World" we spent a couple of days in the port of Tokyo as part of our one month circumnavigation of Japan. During this time I had a little time to explore this amazing city, amazing in every aspect as basically nobody speaks English and all the roads are marked in Japanese only. The city is absolutely huge, so one better does not get lost in it.

One of the adventures I had was going to the Tokyo Fish Market, the biggest in the world and famous for its tuna auction which happens every morning. We got up nice and early, outside was still dark, so around 4.00 in the morning we were in the taxi to get to the market. It was still cold outside as it was early spring, but all the excitement we had was enough to keep us warm.

One of the most amazing parts of the Fish market is the Tuna Auction. All the tuna is lying on wooden pallets and are ready for inspection. All of them are frozen and will sell for a lot of money. For Japanese freshness of the fish is paramount, so why would they buy frozen fish? It is actually quite simple, Tuna is caught all over the world, the boats are sometimes out for many month. To keep the fish fresh it will be shock frozen, that means it will be put through a freezer line that freezes a big tuna in minutes. Like this the ice crystals are very small and won't deter the quality. 

When the tuna gets defrosted carefully, the meat will still be in perfect condition. So to buy a top quality frozen fish is actually not a bad thing, I rather have that then a "fresh" fish that might be already in the shop for days. But everything else on the market is super fresh and sometimes still alive.

Another amazing part is to see how everybody works, the ethics the camaraderie, the team work. The best example is when they fillet a tuna, the fish is so big that one needs more than one person to do the job. Sometimes up to three people help with the filleting. They use a special knife that is about two Meters long, flexible and extremely sharp. With the skilled men they are able to fillet a tuna leaving none of the precious meat on the bone. I was just watching them how the quickly filleted a fish, working in complete harmony and making it look so easy

Another great par is to see all the different types of fish and seafood. Here I stood behind some New Zealand Green Shell Mussels, I had never in my life seen Green Shell Mussels of that size, I just had to have a photo with me, just to see the huge size of them. But of course there was a lot more to see. All the sea Urchin, the Hamachi, I found Guey Duck which is a clam that is mainly from the west coast of Canada, a Clam with a mussel hanging out that is up to 50 cm long. It gets mainly used for Sashimi, and of course there was so much more.

We must have spent something between 3 to 4 hours in the market and I could spend easily a lot more time there, I think I have only seen a fraction of the entire market, but the memories I have are always with me and have changed my way of thinking, especially about freshness and quality of fish, about the way the Japanese take care of the products in the market, it was a real eye opener.

I have seen many fish markets in the world, but I think this one is by far the most impressive one, the sheer size, the cleanliness of it, yes it smells of fish, but it it is all fresh, it smells of the sea. By the time we left they were already busy cleaning up the market, everybody is making sure their little stand is absolutely clean for the next day

On the way out we could see all the fish packed and ready to be delivered to thousands of restaurants, not just in Tokyo, but all over the region and some is even exported. It was a fantastic experience and I hope that some day I will be able to go back to Tokyo and it is 100% sure that I will go back to one of the most fascinating fish markets on the world

Capsicum Soup

This time I like to share an old recipe of mine, something we did when I was still Executive Chef on "The World" There in the fine dining restaurant we had every week a different menu, just for 3 to four days in the evening. It was a lot of fun creating these menus, all the time with local products, freshly bought on the market.

Over time you will get a lot more of these recipes, it is because I found my old photos from the nearly 2 and a half years on this wonderful ship and I like to share with you a bit about the travels, the exotic destinations we went and of course about the food

This soup we made because I found these most amazing little mini Capsicums, or mini Red Peppers on the market. There were so wonderfully sweet and tasty. We simply roasted them with a little salt, pepper and olive oil in the oven, then opened them in the bottom carefully to get the pips out, then we peeled them and used them as a garnish for the soup, together with a roasted Prawn Tail and some grilled Zucchini.

To prepare the soup is really, really easy. I don't even roast them in the oven, I simply take out the pips, cut the green stalk away and then cook them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper till very soft. Then the whole thing gets blended and strained to make sure there is no skin. Like this you will preserve the beautiful red color of the Capsicum

Recipe
1 kg (2 lbs) Capsicum, red
250 g (10 oz) Onions
50 ml (2 oz) Olive oil
10 g (0.3 oz) Salt
Pepper
100 g (3.3 oz) Butter

10 each Mini Red Capsicum (if you can find them on a farmers market)
50 ml (2 oz) Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

250 g (9 oz) Baby Zucchini or Baby Marrows
30 ml (1 oz) Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

10 each Prawn Tails, peeled
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Method
Clean and cut the Red Capsicum
Cut the onions in small dices
Saute both in a little Olive Oil, without color
Add water that it is just covered
Season with Pepper and Salt
Simmer gently for 30 to 45 minutes
Blend and strain
Season to taste
Just before serving add ice cold Butter and mix the soup up

Mix the Baby Capsicum with Olive Oil and Seasoning
Roast in the oven till soft
Carefully peel and de-pip them

Heat the olive oil, saute the Prawn Tails, season to taste

Cut the Baby Zucchini in fine slices with a truffle cutter or similar, they should look a bit like noodles
Heat the Olive Oils and briefly fry the Zucchini in the oil
Season to taste

For the plating, garnish everything in the soup plate, then serve the soup separate

This should be enough for 10 Friends

Penne with Lobster

Now, after I showed you all the fun time we had with the fishing, I thought I will share the recipe for the Penne with Lobster. This is really a typical Italian dish, totally simple, but the flavors are just exploding on your palate.

The base is a really good tomato sauce, chunky, not a fine one, a sauce where you are generous with everything, garlic, onions, basil and the ripest plum tomatoes you can find on the market

Then the lobster, it has to be fresh, really fresh. We just boiled it quickly to kill it, then took the tail out, cut it in pieces and added it at the end to the tomato sauce. Like this you got all the lovely lobster flavor, but it won't be overpowering

Then you cook the Penne, OK, again, don't go for your cheap brand on the shelve of the super market, but spend this extra couple of cents and buy a really good brands like De Cecco, you will see it is worth it.

Make sure you cook the pasta really al dente, you want to finish the cooking process in the sauce, that the pasta soaks up all the flavours of the lobster and the sauce, again, you top quality pasta will do that

There are many top restaurants that actually cook the pasta in the sauce, like this you will have the ultimate flavor, I tried it and yes, it really works

OK, now here is the recipe

100 g (3 oz) Onions
50 G (1.5 oz) Garlic
100 ml (3 oz) Olive oil
500 G (1 lb) Tomatoes
50 g (1.5 oz) Basil

2 kg (4 lb) Lobster

1 kg Penne Pasta

Cook the penne pasta al dente and keep on the side

Cut the onions and garlic in fine cubes
Saute in the olive oil without color
Add the quartered tomatoes
Add salt, pepper and basil
Simmer for about half an hour

In the mean time blanch lobster, get the tail meat out and cut in cubes
Add to the tomato soup and simmer for another 5 minuts, season to taste

Add the penne and heat them up in the sauce, serve immediately

The dish tastes best with a generous helping of freshly grated Parmesan

Exploring Ghana, Fishing in Krokobite

Morning at Crocobite Beach

Finally after nearly 5 month here in Ghana we went out a bit to explore a little more than the restaurant scene here in town. We went with our friend Bruno to Krokobite, about an hours drive from Accra to go fishing. But it is not just normal fishing, no, we actually went with the locals on a big Canoe into the open sea.

Bruno with his Espresso

Bruno is one of my suppliers and as you can guess his main business is fish. I buy most of my fish from him, not just because the price is right, but as well the quality is excellent. Of course being Italian, we could expect an Italian inspired day, especially as the lodge we went was run by an Italian friend of his, Fabrizio.

Meeting another Canoe

We started early, 5 AM we were fetched and off we went to Krokobite. We arrived around 6 AM but being a Sunday, we had no rush and first had some proper Espresso, the one where the machine is put on the stove and then the water gets pushed through the ground coffee. Then we relaxed a bit and enjoyed the sun rise at the beach, it was just absolutely wonderful

Fixing the net on the way out

We went then to the local town and Bruno organized us a Canoe....together with nearly 10 guys. They of course enjoyed the Sunday outing and knew that all the fish would be theirs, so off for a free fishing trip

Bruno trying his luck

We went out quite a bit, I have to say, sometimes the canoe went a bit much on the sides, but of course it did not tun over, sometimes I think I was the only one concerned.

The first fish caught

Then the fishing started and we were lucky....or at least some of us were lucky, and the fish bit nicely.we sailed out around 9 AM and were back just before lunch time. The sun was not shining a lot but believe me....I burned.

The most we caught was a fish called lemon fish, there was plenty of it and all the other canoes around us were catching the same.. There were some little red fish as well, but not much at all. Anyway, there was plenty of fish and we didn't need much in any case.

A part of our catch

On the way home we got some fresh lobster as well and Fabrizio got cooking from the moment we arrived back at the lodge. Now we met as well some new friends who brought some amazing Italian wine....we were at the end 10 people and had 4 bottles of wine....not that everybody was drinking, some preferred cool drinks and some wanted beer, so yes, there was plenty of wine. Every wine was hand chosen from small producers in Italy and then shipped to Ghana, what a treat

The food was simple and delicious, the starter was an amazing Penne al arragosta, Penne Pasta with a spicy tomato sauce and the fresh lobster in it, just a great way to start. Then we had fish, just plain cooked with salt, pepper and olive oil, first the red fishes and lemon fish, then the cassava we caught, Cassava being from the same family like the Branzino in the Mediterranean.....was just amazing.

Fabrizio, our chef and host

So the lunch must have gone on for hours, at the end just everybody sitting around, chatting and ending the meal with another great Espresso

Boston and Clam Chowder

Oh yes, I love Boston. It has been many years since I have visited this beautiful city last and I am lucky enough that we are paying a visit to Boston while on the way to Bermuda. So there is of course no way that I will stay onboard and do nothing, I have to get out for at least a couple of hours.

I think it is the history about this town that fascinates me, the mix and match of old and new buildings, just the whole atmosphere this town has. I read the book 1776 about the liberation of the United States from England, a great book, so I feel the history here!

We went out to go shopping a little bit and of course to do the touristy thing of going to Quincy Market. Quincy Market is sort of the absolute center of town, it is easy to explore the inner city from there and there are plenty of good restaurants. We actually just ate at Quincy Market in the Food Hall. There is such an abundance of food, the variety, just everything. It is actually difficult to make a choice. We found this absolutely stunning sweet shops and of course went a bit wild in buying these humongous Brownies and Coconut cookies. Then we needed one of these chocolate chip cookie sandwiches……so sweet one can actually hardly eat them.

For the savory we went for a pizza, even so the sausages looked delicious too, the “Quattro Formagi” with 4 types of cheese on it. The bottom was so nice and crisp, perfectly baked, the topping of course beautifully juicy, it was just fantastic. Some of our friends went for Indian food, but being from the country themselves, they were not overly impressed. We loved so every bite from the Pizza.

Now of course the big question, will I give you a recipe of a pizza? No, of course not; that recipe we can do another time. Being in Boston, I have to give you a recipe of a typical Boston Clam Chowder. The recipe is enough for 10 friends. I feel especially with a hearty soup one can always make a little more and warm it up later if required.

450 g (1 lb) Clam meat
1 l (1 quart) Clam juice
1 l (1 quart) Cream
450 g (1 lb) Potatoes
250 g (0.5 lb) Leeks
250 g (0.5 lb) Onions
125 g (4 oz) Celery
300 ml (10 oz) White Wine
60 ml (2 oz) Pernod
Chives

Cut all vegetables in small dices.
Heat the butter till foaming, but not brown
Add the vegetables and sweat till onions are slightly translucent
Add the diced potatoes, then clam juice, white wine and Pernod
Simmer till the potatoes are nice and soft, the soup will thicken.
Add the clam meat, simmer for another 5 minutes, thicken if needed with a little corn starch or rice flour

Gourmet Diner in Miami

Gourmet Diner

Being in the States Diners are not necessarily associated with gourmet, but wow, I was proven wrong this weekend while back in Miami.

I am just waiting to join the next ship up in Fort Lauderdale and after being a day in the office I had time to go shopping and have a bite to eat. This time I am staying in the Wyndham Hotel, which is basically next to the airport. All the other hotels were full so I had to go here. In general the hotel is not bad, but no comparison with the other hotels I usually stay. I had a lovely dinner last night, a steak with salad……which unfortunately did not agree with me for some reason and my tummy was not feeling well at all in the morning.

Never mind that, Bruno, the Corporate Executive Chef came to fetch me in the morning that we can go shopping a bit, just all the necessities one needs, tooth paste and so on, so off we went and I got everything I needed. Then we decided to have some lunch and Bruno saw this little diner called Gourmet Diner. So in we went and what a surprise we had. The diner runs since 1983 and the interior is so typical Diner, blue plastic chairs, simple interior. But then we saw the menu we were totally surprised with what we saw.

Fresh Artichoke with vinaigrette
Steamed Mussels
French Onion Soup
Brisket in jus
Snails in Garlic Butter
Snapper Provencale

Wow what a treat.

So we had an artichoke to share as a starter, plain and nice, we picked off the leaves and dunked them into the vinaigrette deeply in discussions about food, products, foie gras and cooking. Then we had a brisket sandwich with its own jus. What a treat to have the soft and tender braised brisket in the crunchy baguette, with melted cheese, wow. We dunked the sandwich in the jus and loved every bit, for me the best Diner I have been to (and there are quite a few of them.

The owner has to be from Europe, there is just too much lovely food there and I will for sure be back, inviting maybe Mike and Marilynn for a treat as they have always looked so well after me while here in Miami.

It is a little bit of a drive to get to this Diner, it is on Biscayne Boulevard driving north from the city centre, fairly close to Aventura Mall on the right side and yes, it is simply called Gourmet Diner, a real treat!!!!!!

But now a little recipe, let’s go a little gourmet too

Seafood on Saffron Risotto for 4 people

120 g (4 oz) Risotto rice
50 g (2 oz) Onions
15 ml (0.5 oz) Olive oil
60 ml (2 oz) White wine
300 ml (10 oz) Chicken stock
1 g (0.05 oz) Saffron
60 g (3 oz) Butter
30 g (1 oz) Parmesan, grated
Salt

Cut the onions in fine cubes
Heat the olive oil to medium heat, add the onions.
Shallow fry till translucent, then add risotto rice.
Again fry till nearly translucent, but no color.
Add white wine and saffron, simmer, stirring all the times
Then add chicken stock and simmer uncovered till rice is al dente. You might have to add a little more chicken stock, depending on the rice.
Add ice cold butter and parmesan just before serving
Season to taste

8 ea Scallops
8 ea Prawns
8 ea Mussels
120 g (4 oz) Snapper
120 g (4 oz) Eggplant
90 g (3 oz) Cherry tomatoes
Olive oil

Cut the eggplant in cubes, half the cherry tomatoes.
Fry the eggplant in olive oil till tender, season to taste, add the cherry tomatoes at the very end to avoid them getting too soft.
Fry all the seafood, season to taste.

Place the risotto in deep bowls and top with the seafood.
Top with the fried eggplant.

Next Blog will be about the new ship I am on, the Equinox, a dream of a ship, so much I can already tell you!

Popping over to Miami for an interview and a Stone Crab recipe

I know it is a while ago, but I went quick from Newcastle, north of Sydney over to Miami for an interview with a rather big cruise line. It was a lot of flying for 5 days, actually most of the time. Everything was good, but there is nothing worse than having to sit at airports and wait for a connection. I had the great pleasure sitting in Los Angeles for 7 hours, as the departing plane to Miami was delayed.......Sounds familiar?

I was impressed with the size of Newcastle Airport, I was there at 530 in the morning and it was pumping, it looked like everybody wanted to leave Newcastle. It is a modern airport with all the facilities, not huge, but nice and cosy.
After a quick flight I was for a couple of hours at Brisbane International Airport. Had some lovely coffee there, everything is well organized, just keep in mind when arriving in Brisbane International and you need to take a Domestic flight, the transfer between the airports can take a long time as there is only one train connection every about 20 minutes.

Immigration Los Angeles........anything can happen........I am prepared for a long wait as I usually do.........5 minutes later I was through it, I just can't believe that Immigration took actually less than 5 minutes, including the wait in the queue, which as you can see was non existent. So there is plenty of time to explore the airport. Last time I was here was about 2 years ago and I thought they should be finish with renovating......they are not! I had a breakfast coffee at the International terminal, at 7 AM and was amazed how busy Mac Donald's was......long queues.....let's not go into it! So, no there is not much I can say about Los Angeles Airport except, make sure you are there for as short time as possible.
Now to Miami. I LOVE Miami, it must be the Hispanic influence, the Cuban feel, it is just nice. Staying at Hilton Down Town (the company pays), I had this most amazing view over the City Bowl, all the photos are taken from my room, OK I got upgraded to a Junior Suite, not because I am a nice guy, but the other rooms were fully booked and I only arrived after 10PM. So I had to reside in this Suite with a lounge big enough to accommodate a soccer team. The rest of the hotel was then very much average, breakfast and service even below. I like my breakfast, but what they offered was not even worth taking a photo.

I was lucky enough to be flown in a day early, so I could meet up with some friends and spent a lovely day, driving out to the Everglades National Park. Just amazing to see the sheer size of it. The dinner with some beautiful BBQ Lamb Chops and good wine, life is good.
Then after being so short in Miami I was on my way back, another 20 hours of flying.....yes it started to get sore in some special place of my body! But this time there were no overlays in the airport, no delays, just straight flying. Quantas was lovely, good service, good food, and even good movies. As this flight was on a Monday night, the planes were not that full, on my way here all the seats were taken. So this time I had space and on both long haul flights had a really good sleep.

I thought I give here a little recipe for Stone Crabs, a speciality in Miami when in season.

Ingredients:

3 pounds stone crab claws
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-dry vermouth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Preparation:

First crack the stone crab claws and remove the shell and pincer. Leave the meat attached to the remaining pincer. Next it is time to heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add Stone crab claws and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the claws are heated through, and turn the crab claws frequently. Turn heat to high; add vermouth, lemon juice, salt and pepper to pan. Cook 1 minute more, spooning vermouth sauce over claws

Oh, by the way, I did get the job and will start mid January, my new Job title is Traveling Executive Chef, fits perfectly to the Gourmet Traveler, doesn't it? So I think there will be plenty more posts to come over the next year. And I better get used to the hotel (not the room of course) as it seems that this is the hotel I will be staying at while in Miami.