Fish cuisine

Fishing is not a simple sport competition but also a pleasant reward in the way of delicious meal. Sometimes I like to spend the whole weekend on the lake without contest but simply spending some time with myself and a spinning rod or with my dearest friends with their rods. When I plan to go fishing I have to leave very early in the morning and quite often without having a crumb. But as soon as I get to the place and fish I can enjoy fish meal right on the shore. I take a sauce pan and necessary utensil and cutlery in advance. I take some fresh fish, wash it thoroughly, peel it from scale, and get it prepared for fire. Different kinds of fish are to be peeled and cleaned differently: some of them are to be cleaned and boiled with no scale on it, some - without fins, others might be cooked completely without cleaning them at all. But still there are few common rules I stick to. First and the main one is to avoid insanitary conditions: wash your hands thoroughly before preparing and before actual eating; wash fish thoroughly with clean water; keep all utensil and cutlery clean.

I boil one litre of water per person, then I add peeled potatoes or a little of cereals if I have any, but if not I do not become upset as a real dish is to be prepared of the fish only, and potatoes and cereals are just redundancy to make the broth thicker. I put a kilo of fish for a litre of water and boil it for half an hour. I nap broth solely with spices and a bit of onion. And after it is prepared I sift it through gauze to get rid of big and small bone fragments and enjoy my meal together with my friends. In California I have many fishermen friends who like to have a bite outside. We have beautifully and well organized places for boiling and broiling fish without damaging environment. Definitely we treat our families with fresh fish at home, but spending the whole day among aquatinters is very useful and marvellous pastime, and it is not about eating. These events make me more tolerant and goal-oriented. I feel prepared for the competitions not because I spent I good couple of hours training myself in terms of craft, stamina, and speed, but I gain lots of expertise and I learn the whole process of it as if from inside. Getting to know many other sides of fishing which might seem not to be related to sport fishing help me to win.

When going for California seasonal sport fishing, I am not anxious about winning a contest, I am just enjoying every moment of being there, gaining lots of experience and expertise.