CLEANING AND PREPARATION OF PERLEMOEN

CLEANING PERLEMOEN

Open the shell and hit it with a stone on the "mouth". Remove meat from the shell. Dispose of the dark digestive canal. Brush the meat under running water. Remove rind and "mouth"and cut meat into thin slices. Place the slices between wax-paper layers and tenderize with a meat mallet. Take care not to mince. Prepare immediately. It can also be frozen, not exceeding three months. Preparing perlemoen in a presto can be dangerous. 

WHOLE PERLEMOEN PREPARATION

Take a whole perlemoen. Soften with a meat mallet. Add lemon juice and black pepper to taste, no salt. Add grated cheddar cheese. Wrap in bacon and add teaspoon butter. Wrap the perlemoen in tin foil and place in a preheated oven for half and hour. Soft and tasty when cooked.

ROCK LOBSTER ESPAGNOLE

1 rock lobster

½ onion ( chopped ) 

1 garlic glove

1 tablespoon cooking oil                               

Parsley

3 cups white wine

1 tomato ( sliced )

1 carrot ( grated )

1 bay ( or orange ) leaf

Salt and pepper

Simmer shelled lobster in wine for 5 minutes. Strain, keeping liquor on one side. Fry onion, chopped garlic, bay leaf and parsley in cooking oil. Add tomato, carrot, salt and pepper. When golden brown add lobster liquor and simmer for a few minutes. Strain and pour over lobster.

GALJOEN ON THE BEACH

The galjoen is endemic to South African water. The name is derived from the Spanish sailing ship, also a galjoen - galleon in English. It is also South Africa's national fish. The galjoen feeds near the land and is on its fattest and juiciest during the winter months. The extraordinary taste and marmoreal appearance, as well as the black veins are inherent in this fish.

Galjoen on the beach

Make a hole of 60 cm in diameter and 30 cm deep in the sand. Make a fire in the hole - a big one, for many coals. Meanwhile have a drink or two. Wrap the whole, cleaned galjoen in multiple layers of wet brown paper. Some people are adamant that no spices or salt should be added. Place the galjoen without any fear in the middle of the coals and cover lightly with sand. Have another drink and after 30 minutes you will find to your shock and surprise a burnt mass. Let it chill for a while. Cut open and remove the paper and skin. What lies before you is fit for a king.

Galjoen on the braai - barbecue

Flay the fish. Take out the dorsal fin and open up like a butterfly. Hang in a cool spot - in a breeze for a day. Rub the outside of the fish with coarse salt and season inside with fish spice, if desired. Place skin side down on braai grid and braai slowly over medium coals until skin is blackened. The best way to eat the galjoen is on its own, with one exception - baked sweet potatoes.

ALIKREUKEL ON THE BRAAI

Collect at low tide. Ten alikreukels may be collected per person per day providing that they measure no less than 64mm in diameter. Drop alikreukels into a pot of boiling water and cook for 20 minutes. Remove flesh from the shell. Remove the trap door disc and cut off the stomach intestine. Slice very finely using a sharp knife or you may prefer to mince the flesh. Both ways may be prepared as follows:

Alikreukel in white wine

Heat a little olive oil or butter in a pan. Add some finely chopped onion and crushed garlic. Cook gently until onions are transparent. Add the alikreukel and sauté for about 2 minutes, stirring. Add a squeeze of lemon and a little white wine, freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste. Serve on rice.

Alikreukel on the braai

Put the shells with trapdoor turned up on the grid. They will stew in their own juices and should be ready after 20 minutes. Pull flesh out of their shells and clean as indicated above. Slice the flesh and serve with lemon or dip into garlic butter or mayonnaise.

C0DFISH FILET AU BORDELAISE

Ingredients

4 codfish fillets of 160 gram
300 ml red wine
6 onions

Utensils

1 gratin pan
1 sauce pan

Preparation
Peel and cut the onion in thin slices.
Put them in a container with the red wine and cover the pan with film for cooking.
Cook in the oven for 15 minutes at 900 watts.
When they are cooked line the codfish fillets up in a pan.
Cook it in the oven for 5 minutes at 180 watts.
If you wish to serve the fillets with sauce, at the end of the cooking, reduce the red wine in a saucepan and add a little bit of cream.
Before serving, sprinkle the plate with a pinch of chopped parsley or chives in thin slices.
Besides the onions, you can garnish this dish with carrots, rice or boiled potatoes.

STUFFED CALAMARI OR SQUID TUBES

PREPARING CALAMARI OR SQUID

Rinse in cold water. Draw back rim of body pouch to disclose the pen. Hold the tip and gently pull free. Discard. Hold body pouch in one hand and with the other hold head below eyes. Gently pull apart. Rinse pouch and gently pull away lining membrane. Cut off tentacles, slicing just below the eyes. Discard the head. Skin pouch by slipping a finger under the skin and peeling it off. Cut fins from both sides of pouch and skin them. The beak like mouth lies inside the rim connecting the tentacles. Squeeze mouth out of rim with fingers and discard. There are four edible parts of a squid or inkfish - the tentacles, the pouch and two fins.

STUFFED CALAMARI OR SQUID TUBES

For this dish set the bodies aside once the squid has been cleaned, or buy ready-cleaned calamari tubes. Tentacles and fins can be used in the stuffing but must be finely chopped. 
Saute finely chopped onion in olive oil. In a separate pot, cook chopped spinach until tender. In a bowl combine onions and spinach with breadcrumbs, chopped garlic, oregano, an egg, salt and pepper. Mix together for the stuffing. Stuff the squid tube with this mixture. Fill each squid tube loosely as they will shrink during cooking and may split. Secure the opening with a toothpick. In the meantime saute some more chopped onion in a deep pan in olive oil until transparent. Lay the stuffed squid on top and add a glass of dry white wine and a handful of chopped parsley. Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for about 40 minutes. Remove squid to a plate. Reduce the liquid until onions are syrupy and spoon over tubes. Small stuffed squid or calamari tubes are ideal as a first course. Serve large ones as a main course with rice.

SABOYAN GRATIN

Ingredients

1 kg potatoes

1 reblochon

125 g smoked bacon

1 garlic glove

100 ml chicken broth

Pepper and nutmeg

Utensils

1 grain plate

1 sauce pan

Preparation

Peel the potatoes and cut them in slices.

Peel the garlic clove and chop it.

Mix the potatoes, garlic, bacon, pepper and a pinch of grated nutmeg in a gratin pan.

Add the chicken broth.

Put reblochon on top of it, cut in half.

Cook in oven for 30 minutes at 170º/600 watts.

Note

Serve the unique plate with a salad. You can replace the reblochon with raclette or a camembert if you wish to change the region.