Cultural exchange

David Burton

WHOLESALE BOOT COMPANY’S GOAN RAW FISH CURRY

Dining at Clay Toomer’s upscale, upstairs bistro, Goan customers look askance at a dish called Goan Raw Fish Curry. ‘‘What’s this?’’ they ask Clay. ‘‘We don’t know it back home.’’ They’re absolutely correct, of course. There is no such thing as Goan Raw Fish – or at least there wasn’t, until Clay and his erstwhile partner Tom Hutchison hatched the concept, along with all their other novel cross-cultural mash-ups at WBC.

As the name suggests, Goan Raw Fish Curry is two dishes condensed into one: a fragrant Goan fish curry, made in the style of Latin American ceviche or the Pacific Islands’ raw fish, marinated in lime juice for 90 minutes and then mixed with coconut cream.

Freshly roasted and ground spices are added, the same as would go into a cooked Goan fish curry: cumin, coriander, fennel, a lot of garam masala and enough cardamom to smell it.

Turmeric turns the sauce yellow, and in addition there’s garlic, fresh coriander, bay leaves (not curry leaves, interestingly) fresh coriander and just the teeniest smidgen of fresh deseeded green and red chillies, so it still tastes floral rather than spicy and pungent.

The dish hinges on the right fish. WBC buys three species of sustainably line-caught fish commonly landed at Port Wellington: warehou, trevally and moki. These are all densely textured and conveniently, they sell for less than premium species such as snapper, bluenose and blue cod. The density of raw texture is what yields such a pleasant mouthfeel. Even more conveniently, these marginally tough fish can even resist overmarination and still not turn ragged and sodden.

Two half-moons of poppadum are elegantly laid over the bowl as a lid, giving the impression of a Western-style presentation.

‘‘So,’’ Clay asked one party of Goan customers while clearing their raw fish entree, ‘‘did you enjoy that?’’

‘‘Not really. We’ll bring in some real home cooked Goan fish curry for you to try.’’

Yet for the past three years, Clay’s regulars have been moaning with ecstasy and saying: ‘‘Oh, don’t change that raw fish ever!’’

Tips for the home cook: Besides the species used by WBC, you might also try monkfish. Fresh, raw kahawai from Wellington Harbour is particularly brilliant.

Lemon juice can easily be used instead of lime. Don’t over-marinate. WBC’s 1 hour 30 minutes is actually at the well-done end of the ‘‘cooking’’ spectrum. Once in Tahiti I was spoilt forever by spanking fresh fish from the sea, marinated a mere 20 minutes.

Before you even contemplate this dish, lower your nostrils to the raw fish you’ve bought and have a good old sniff. If there’s any stale whiff at all, it will persist unwanted in the finished dish. In that case, make a red hot cooked curry with loads of chilli instead!

wbcrestaurant.co.nz