Consider This, and Oyster Tempura

Lately I have been considering that if I ate less I would get more work done in the garden.

 birthday postcard from Mr. Peach

Matters would be helped further if I didn't go to Billinsgate at 4am so often, but I can't help it: once there you can purchase a box of 25 Maldon oysters for £11 from Bard Shellfish. So do it I tell ya. Do it.

my trusty shucker

Opening an oyster is a bit like breaking and entering.You will need one of these to shuck them, (I got mine in the 90s from Carrefour) but a flat, blunt knife works too. Beware: a blunt knife is the most dangerous item one can possess in the kitchen. Because you think it's blunt. Try not to aim for the wrist.

I well remember my first jaunt to Billingsgate. I was 16 and it was the idea of my dear friend, Mr. Peach. The fishermen were delighted. Post-Billingsgate we returned to  NW3, where, in her parents' kitchen (yes, he is a she) I tackled my first oyster and near took my thumb off. Having had a sip or two of something strong both before and after the incident, it wasn't wailing that woke the parents, but wake they did, and find us they did, tipsy and surrounded by blood and crustacea. It turned out to be a kosher home. And a school night too. Correction: school morning. It's true what they say: you always remember your first.

A Maldon Oyster from Bard Shellfish

I have always been an oyster purist, and still consider myself so. I would not make any allowance - that is until I had my first tempura oyster in Kyoto Garden Sushi, Cape Town way (no website, but it can be found at 11 Kloof Nek Rd). I didn't order the tempura oyster. It came on the house as husband and I turned up with a bottle of Haute Cabriere Pierre Jourdan Brut Sauvage, which impressed Tamo, who was working there and happened to be the son of Haute Cabriere's owner, Achim von Arnim. This was some time ago. Tamo is now the Brand Ambassador at the family vineyard. But it was a meal to remember and the tempura oyster so good we ordered it thrice. It was also the first time my husband put an oyster in his mouth, managed to keep it there and swallow. So I have Kyoto Garden Sushi to thank for his initiation. And for their green tea ice cream, which I dream about. And Haute Cabriere for their wonderful sparkling wine.

This recipe will not make you green tea ice cream, but a very good tempura batter for oysters (and skate knobs). Just a quick whisk and hey-presto, batter done. Sometimes I use a little less sparkling mineral water, adding in an ice cube instead, as it does well to keep the batter cold. Imperative to have Kikkoman for dipping:

2 egg yolks

100g plain flour, sifted

200ml cold sparkling mineral

If you happen to be in Franschhoek do take the Haute Caubrière champagne tour & tasting as not only is their sparkling wine divine but Achim von Arnim has something of Floyd's joie de vivre about him. If he happens to be hosting the tour, he will open the champagne with a sword. The Brut Sauvage is lovely, but I particularly look forward to their Pierre Jourdan Belle de Rose whenever I visit. You can buy either here.

Anyone wondering where the green-fingered element of the blog has got to shall be answered thus: it is here: logs have been chopped; border 3 has been emptied in its entirety, as has the back border, which shall be cemented over to make way for a greenhouse; and the garden shed has been got rid of. It was mostly rotten with woodworm, so less of it shall go for kindle than previously hoped.

border 3

said shed

back border

From border 3 I am keeping this handsome fern.

And another thing. There is a lawnmower in my kitchen.