FISHING FOR COMPLIMENTS

Caught or bought, fresh fish makes a tasty meal Crispy beer-battered fish

Acouple of months ago, my sister Prue and I took a trip to Port Underwood in the Marlborough Sounds, on a quest to uncover some of our family history.

Our 3x great-grandparents immigrated here after a stint in the Sydney penal colony. Samuel Cave’s conviction was as a bigamist, and Susannah Dockerall, whom he married while in Sydney, carried the crime of stealing stockings. In 1837, after they were pardoned, they moved across the Tasman to this remote spot, a wide inlet that faces northeast to the wild waters of Cook Strait. These days it is reached by a very winding road from Blenheim.

The New Zealand shore whaling industry was in full swing at the time, and the famous whaler Jackie Guard had five whaling stations in Port Underwood. Samuel found work as a cooper making barrels for the “black oil” of the right whale. Later, he went on to run one of the Guard whaling stations.

The couple’s daughter, Ann Cave, was 8 when she arrived in New Zealand in 1837 and was married off under the haze of a scandal, at the age of 15, to a sea captain. The officiating minister reported, “She is very young — not 16. But reports to her discredit having prevailed, whether true or not, rendered it prudent for them to be married at once.” The family legend goes that there were concerns about a possible abduction and marriage to a local Maori. Who this may have been, is a question that remains unearthed, but standing on the beach here I found myself wondering about these particular relations, the bloodlines we follow and those we don’t know about or leave behind. I read somewhere recently that there are now more than 5000 descendants from Samuel and Susannah’s Port Underwood line. Do we all share this love for the sea and for fishing?

As kids, we spent most of our summers fishing. My grandfather, Put, whose roots lay in the Port Underwood line, was a mad keen fisherman. We would head out from Portage — where his treasured launch the Shangri La was moored — to fish, sometimes for days at a time. Motoring through the Sounds, it was never long before we’d arrive at one of Put’s secret spots, drop our lines and haul in a feast of blue cod. Put was an excellent cook and would whip up plates of perfectly crisp battered cod from the boat’s tiny galley. He would chop up gherkins and hard-boiled eggs and mix them into store-bought mayo for a makeshift tartare sauce. We kids thought we were in heaven.

Fish for supper? Yes, please.

Ready in 15 minutes Serves 4

1 cup rice flour

1 tsp salt

¾ cup beer

Neutral oil, to cook

4 boneless, skinless white fish fillets Flaky salt, to sprinkle

TARTARE SAUCE

1 cup good quality mayonnaise 2 Tbsp finely chopped gherkins 2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley 1 Tbsp finely chopped capers 1 hardboiled egg, peeled and diced

(optional)

Lemon wedges, to serve

Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir in beer to form a smooth paste.

Heat 4cm of oil in a large pot over medium heat. Test it is hot enough by dropping in a drip of batter. If it sizzles the oil is ready for cooking.

Dip fish into the batter to coat, then drop into heated oil, working in batches if necessary so as not to overcrowd the pot. Cook, turning once, until fish is cooked through

(it should pierce easily without any resistance) and batter is golden brown (5-6 minutes). Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with flaky salt and serve with tartare sauce and lemon wedges.