A Spring Tide Supper

Steve Hurt and I went down to Flat Rock for the morning low tide and collected a bucket of red crabs, rock oysters and a few of large cape pearl oysters. He dived for the oysters which are usually hidden away under overhanging underwater ledges. I had a short search for sole with my fork (purchased from Allcock's, PE) and then started spearing crabs. We both found a few octopi which we fed with crabs. I noticed that the crabs tend to sit out of the water when there is an octopus nearby. They literally jump out and run in all directions when an octopus approaches, and I had a hand in chasing a few back into the tentacles of a chasing occie. Steve managed to feed a small octopus, underwater, with a crab stuck on his knife.

Flat Rock, Wilderness

In the late afternoon Steve and his neighbour, Rob, shot several Belmen (baardman) at depth off a big rock.

Armed with the harvest of oysters, crabs and two fish I set about preparing our supper of fresh oysters with lemon, two grilled pearl oysters with basil pesto and a Belman and Red Crab bouillabaisse-style soup.

A Belman ready for filleting

Oysters, Red Crabs, Belman fillets, Cape Pearl Oysters

A grilled oyster

I first made 2 litres of stock from the crabs and Belman head and bones, with celery, carrot, onion, black pepper, thyme, bay leaves and garlic. The bouillabaisse was made with what was available here in The Wilderness where the shopping is not great; i.e no fennel bulbs or Pernod. Ingredients were olive oil, garlic, onion, 2 desert spoons of flour, a large sprig of thyme from the bush outside, chopped basil and oregano, again from the herb patch, a tin of tomatoes, a red chilli and crab stock. The sprig of thyme was removed after 20 minutes of cooking and the soup was then blended with a hand blender. The raw fish and cooked crabs were then added for a minute of cooking and the pot then removed from the heat.

The Belman and Red Crab Soup

The soup was our third course after two rounds of oysters (taken with Villiera Brut 2006) and was served with rough French country-type bread and Hartenberg Cabernet Savignon. This was followed by a selection of cheeses from the Cheese Deli at Timberlake Village! Not bad for an all-locally-sourced meal. It certainly beats waiting for up to an hour at the highly crowd-stressed local eateries which do not even serve this kind of fare!

At the behest of the mother-in-law-in-residence we finished off with a Dom Pedro-style ice cream and Frangelico.