I had been
working for long hours during the weekend with a couple of friends.
We finished
and I was going to say my goodbyes and return home, when one of the girls said
:
_ Wait, don’t
go yet. Have dinner with us. Do you like baked fish and potatoes ?
_ Yes - I answered -
I like it very much.
We all went
to kitchen, peeled the potatoes, cut the fish to slices and then…
… I saw one
of them pick up a big pan.
_ Sorry for
asking but what are you going to do with that ? – I asked.
Both girls
looked at me puzzled and them to each other-The one holding the pot answered.
_ Well, I’m
going to fill it with water until it is half full, put it on the stove and when
it starts shimmering I’ll add the potatoes and the fish.
_ Please don’t.
–I said- Do you mind if I do it my way ? Do you have a pot, about three times
smaller ?
They looked
at each other again and then to me and said that it was ok. I suppose that they only accepted because they
had already eaten at my place and knew that I wouldn’t be making anything less
than palatable.
I cut the
potatoes in medium sized cubes and placed them inside the pot together with the
fish slices. I added salt , two spoons of olive oil and added water up to a
third of the height of the pot. The food looked a little crammed up and
obviously the water didn’t cover it.
I placed
the pot on the stove, with the flame as low as possible.
_ Now we
wait.
They didn’t
say anything but their faces spoke eloquently.
We chatted
for a while. After 17 minutes I got up, and checked the food with a fork.
_ It is done.
Do you have any corn starch?
I transferred
to potatoes and fish to a platter and shown them the remaining liquid in the
pot. It was white, almost the colour of a mixture of milk and water.
I added
another spoon of olive oil and two spoons of corn starch and dissolved it into
the liquid. The result was a delicious and creamy fish sauce.
_ This is
good ! - said one of them – But why do you do it this way ?
I answered.
_ Well,
because this way it tastes just as good, if not better than the traditional, and
this way there is no waste. 