Tuesday, I set out for the fabulous Dekalb Farmers Market to get my monthly supply of meat, among other things. An important item on my list was fish carcasses to make stock from. (lovely, yes?)
After I had found all of my other items, I stepped up to the fish counter and took my number. And I waited. And waited. I discovered that they didn't have cod, which was what I was after. I asked a couple of other customers about an acceptable substitute. The man told me that tilapia should work well. Suddenly, a Precious had a potty emergency. I glanced at the number display, and made my bet that we could get back before the next eight numbers were called.
We made it to the potty and rushed back to the counter. Thankfully, the display showed two numbers before ours.
When my number was called, I told the man that I just wanted the fish cleaned, head on. I should mention that the market is the Dekalb International Farmers Market, and English is not the first language of most of the folks who work there. I enjoy being in such a diverse environment, and I think it's good for my children to be in the ethnic minority once in a while. Whole Foods it is not. The prices are much better, too.
When I told the man what I wanted, I should have told him, "Number one," because that was what I wanted from the three available options. All he heard was "head," and he assumed that I meant that I wanted the heads off.
I was oblivious to this until the lady next to me pointed out that he was chopping my fish heads off. I called out to him, and he came over. I explained what I had wanted, but it was too late. My stock heads had already been discarded. He started to re-do the fish, but I decided that would be too wasteful. I remembered that I already had three cod heads in the freezer at home from last month's trip to the market. Case closed. I collected my headless tilapia and went to the checkout. Thus was my first trip to the fish counter, definitely one to chalk up to experience. The numbers work. Explanations do not.
At home, New Daddy showed me how to filet the fish-- something I had never done, since he always has. Since he had to go back to work, this became my job. I had always been squeamish about freshly caught fish. He could never understand how I could cut up a whole chicken, and I could never bring myself to touch a fish. Ah, yes, we were meant to be.
A couple of interesting things-- After I made a big deal about my fish heads, I'm sure much to everyone else's great interest, a man came up to me and asked my why I wanted the heads. I told him that it gives the stock a better gelatin (true or not, I'm not sure now). But, what I had forgotten was that the heads are an excellent source of iodine. The other interesting thing was that I have never had people ask me how I prepare what I was buying. This time, however, I had to opportunity to describe how to prepare sunchokes to a complete stranger. Fun stuff.
Tomorrow, I plan to make the stock using the Nourishing Traditions recipe. New Daddy has put in his order for "Portugese stew" with the tilapia. I guess I'll find out very soon what that is. [grin]
After I had found all of my other items, I stepped up to the fish counter and took my number. And I waited. And waited. I discovered that they didn't have cod, which was what I was after. I asked a couple of other customers about an acceptable substitute. The man told me that tilapia should work well. Suddenly, a Precious had a potty emergency. I glanced at the number display, and made my bet that we could get back before the next eight numbers were called.
We made it to the potty and rushed back to the counter. Thankfully, the display showed two numbers before ours.
When my number was called, I told the man that I just wanted the fish cleaned, head on. I should mention that the market is the Dekalb International Farmers Market, and English is not the first language of most of the folks who work there. I enjoy being in such a diverse environment, and I think it's good for my children to be in the ethnic minority once in a while. Whole Foods it is not. The prices are much better, too.
When I told the man what I wanted, I should have told him, "Number one," because that was what I wanted from the three available options. All he heard was "head," and he assumed that I meant that I wanted the heads off.
I was oblivious to this until the lady next to me pointed out that he was chopping my fish heads off. I called out to him, and he came over. I explained what I had wanted, but it was too late. My stock heads had already been discarded. He started to re-do the fish, but I decided that would be too wasteful. I remembered that I already had three cod heads in the freezer at home from last month's trip to the market. Case closed. I collected my headless tilapia and went to the checkout. Thus was my first trip to the fish counter, definitely one to chalk up to experience. The numbers work. Explanations do not.
At home, New Daddy showed me how to filet the fish-- something I had never done, since he always has. Since he had to go back to work, this became my job. I had always been squeamish about freshly caught fish. He could never understand how I could cut up a whole chicken, and I could never bring myself to touch a fish. Ah, yes, we were meant to be.
A couple of interesting things-- After I made a big deal about my fish heads, I'm sure much to everyone else's great interest, a man came up to me and asked my why I wanted the heads. I told him that it gives the stock a better gelatin (true or not, I'm not sure now). But, what I had forgotten was that the heads are an excellent source of iodine. The other interesting thing was that I have never had people ask me how I prepare what I was buying. This time, however, I had to opportunity to describe how to prepare sunchokes to a complete stranger. Fun stuff.
Tomorrow, I plan to make the stock using the Nourishing Traditions recipe. New Daddy has put in his order for "Portugese stew" with the tilapia. I guess I'll find out very soon what that is. [grin]
Comments