Every Easter weekend growing up, Mom and I celebrated with her circle of artist friends with an amazing feast. These women, weavers, sculptors, paper makers, fiber artists, taught me the beauty and thrill of making by hand. These stunning Easter eggs are a perfect example–the dramatic amber color comes from a dye of onion skins, saved from New Year’s day to April, and a resist technique creates the delicate graphic designs on the surface. As a little girl, I was responsible for picking ferns and leaves from the garden outside, while all the women in attendance had to bring their old stockings & nylons (pre-washed, please!) to sacrifice to the scissors. We use the delicate stretchy mesh to secure the leaves and petals on the eggs while they sit in the dye. Fishnets make some great chain-link designs, by the way. Instead of hiding these garnet-colored beauties, we proudly display them at each place setting to whet the appetite for the five course dinner to come. Here in Downtown LA, I not only lack a garden — I can’t even keep anything alive in my windowsill. However, I think I did pretty well with simple parsley leaves and the tops from carrots I got in my weekly CSA box, fresh from the farm.
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Part 1: The Honolulu Fish Auction
At 4am, Pier 38 at the Honolulu harbor is at it’s mid-day rush. Forklifts with palates of unbelievably large fish zoom back and forth outside the warehouse, from boat to loading station, from the side door and out to the waiting trucks. There’s a loudspeaker calling names of the winning bidders, prompting them to meet their prize out front–”Nobu, to the loading dock. Nobu!” Ooh, my friends and I are standing next to the buyer from Nobu?
Cucumber canapes with Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraîche
For a girl on an assistant’s budget, one might wonder how/why I use crème fraîche in so many of my dishes when it costs $4 for a tiny little tub that doesn’t stretch very far. I love the tang and creamy texture it gives to anything from an herby salad dressing to real pumpkin pie to a garnish for scrambled eggs or smoked salmon. It’s a thick, rich, better sour cream that won’t curdle or go all watery when it’s cooked with, so it’s perfect for things like Tarte Flambée (a kind of crème fraîche pizza with bacon and onions) or to stir into a pot of hot white beans with some thyme and black pepper.
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The first time I got to fillet a whole fish was as a giddy high school kid at 5am with my dad and a big sharp knife. We had just been to the Honolulu fish auction, a frigid warehouse on the downtown docks where deep sea fishermen pulled up and unloaded their hauls, mostly enormous ahi. We’d paid the small fee that gives temporary privileges to outsiders and, with our handwritten “MATSUDA” sign, went and stood next to the fish buyers from Tamashiro’s and Yama’s. We bid on one of the smallest ahi there, a 45lb beauty with clear eyes and glossy skin. We packed him on ice in the cooler and drove home. We covered the kitchen table in plastic wrap and newspaper, and I learned how to break down a big fish into loins, fillets, sashimi and sushi cuts.
I’ve had a few chances to practice on other round fish (that is, fish that swim upright like ahi) at work, once on a 25lb salmon for a Medieval German recipe test. It involved filleting & boning the fish, then braising/roasting/salting different sections that were put back together and served whole. Those 15th century cooks really went for the drama. I took apart plenty of round fish while I worked in a restaurant kitchen a few years ago, but I’ve never had a chance to take my fish knife to a flat fish (a fish that swims flat instead of upright, like this guy).
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