Feasting on red gold

When we first moved to Kommetjie and had a boat, and crayfishing was unrestricted for recreation (I don't recall there being poachers in those days - law enforcement was still effective), we had an unlimited supply of crayfish. The modus operandi was that everyone (friends and local kids) would turn up after work, nets would be filled with bait bags on the trip down to the beach for launching and within about 20 minutes the first nets were laid. It was a smooth operation of note, and the boat was called "Smooth Operator" for good reason.

Within an hour the boat was back, washed off and reversed into the garage, nets rinsed and hung up on the fence to dry for the next day, and bait bags refilled before being put back in the deep freeze. Then it would be time to light the fire in the boma, put on the big pot and cook the catch. I of course played no part in any of this, having two small children to attend to, but I recall that I nearly wore out the stairs carrying trays of food and clearing up afterwards! So I had a purpose after all.

Eventually we sold the boat, crayfishing become severely restricted for the common man, and we didn't miss eating it as we had feasted so often on red gold.  Nowadays, we may go out on someone's boat once or twice a season, or even less, and have started to enjoy crayfish again. It's our son's turn to do the hard work of crewing now, and we just have to dismember the cooked result!

This is all that is left of the legs and body, both of which are filled with the tastiest meat, and the shells were then consigned straight into the soil of the vegetable patch. They make the most wonderful fertiliser and in the old days, truckloads of crayfish bodies were brought over Chapman's Peak drive from Hout Bay to be dug into the soil in Noordhoek by the vegetable farmers. No wonder the ground is so fertile there!