Out of the sea and into the frying pan

'Twas an excellent day in most respects. The most marvellous weather Cape Town can produce - here in Kommetjie the warmth of the sun was tempered by a gentle zephyr from the sea, carrying the scent of ozone and fresh kelp across the bay and filtering it to a palatable level through the thickets of ancient milkwood that surround it. On days like this, it is a veritable paradise, particularly as there was hardly a soul to be seen on my stroll along the boardwalk to Slangkop lighthouse. They must have been seeking the warmer waters of False Bay to splash in as the holidays set in and Christmas shopping looms. A silky smooth swell rising close to shore crashed against the rocks in sprays of snow white surf - the closest we'll be getting to a white Christmas - and the low tide meant the surfable waves were pristine in the absence of any surfers until a pushing tide in the late afternoon. 

A stop off for tea with a friend kept me away from home longer than anticipated, and when I returned it was to find another friend hard at work preparing a lunchtime treat - calamari that he had caught a few hours earlier off a boat in Simon's Town bay. This was really going back to the old days, when we had our own boat and used to catch crayfish, perlemoen (dived) and calamari and had a constant stream of guests to share in the feast from the sea. You can guess who did all the work, but the cooking was always on a fire in the boma done by He Who Can Fix Anything and always of 6-star standard. As times have changed and our access to free food from the sea has been stripped away, I think we appreciate the odd occasion like today far more than when we could take or leave a crayfish. 

The calamari is what we use as bait here (called chokka) as well as exported - not the fat and almost soggy fingers that come from the South Atlantic served in restaurants and fish and chip shops - and requires a medium heat and short cooking time in a little oil, being very thin in comparison. When expertly handled, as today, the first taste to hit the palate is calamari, sweet and slightly chewy but not at all like the tennis ball texture of, say, an alikreukel. We ate our fill, accompanied by crisp rosti and scattered with Maldon sea salt. A dish fit for a king at a less than princely price! (Sorry, no pics!)

Old photos were brought out of boxes, much reminiscing was done and good times remembered.  We must do it again soon