Fish!

You would expect a waterside place like Dartmouth to have a good supply of fresh fish and the town certainly doesn't fail to deliver here. In the market place on most days, there is the best wet fish shop I have seen in recent times. It's a veritable cornucopia. There are fish there that I couldn't name nor recognise. It reminds me of the description of a similar stall in The Prawns of Lebowa.

There really are all varieties and it is quite a challenge to come away with only those items decided upon before arrival.

I have tried huss for the first time. An interesting texture a bit like a sort of fish tofu that soaks up flavour beaustiful in something like a Thai Curry. Having only ever seen the long pinkish fillets of the fish previously, I was fascinated when a small shark like creature was produced from a large bucket under the counter, eviscerated and then filleted by expert hands and a sharp knife. In no time at all two good (pinkish) fillets were on the counter before me.

" It was in the sea yesterday".

Sea bream just tastes divine even though it is a bit picky with the bones. Oven baked it was a tasty meal.

Red mullet of course an utter gem: have been back a few times for those.

Hake, another new fish to me and one that I thought would be flakey in texture . How wrong I was. I wanted two thick pieces and a huge fish was duly lifted from under the counter and two large pieces of 'loin' we removed.

That was cooked in the pan and served with new potatoes, a fresh tomato melange and samphire.

The mussels are truly the plumpest ones that I have ever eaten. Again, simply cooked: finely chopped onion and garlic and black pepper fried up in a little olive oil or butter in the base of a large pan, a little dry white wine and then the prepared mussels into a large pan for long enough to cook. Discard any that don't open of course.

And served with some sourdough baguette from the French Bakery just opposite the market.

And the prawns - where to begin? Juicy and sweet, it is like rediscovering food every time.

This simple dish is one that could very well be a picture of the Prawns of Lebowa. Served whole and eaten (mostly) whole for the benefit of my knees.

The scallops! Well what can I say about those? Huge plump juicy things with beautiful orange coral. So fresh that they are often still alive ( which may or may not sound gross). Pan fied in a little olive oil and butter, they taste like a slice of heaven on earth.

The freshness of the catch can be a little disturbing. My particular distress was to see a collection of octopus on the stall. I watched in horror as one of the tentacles unwound itself with deliberate yet hopeless intent across the surface of the other dead or partially dead flesh. I have to confess that I was sorely tempted to buy the creature just so that I could drop the unfortunate thing back into the estuary.

No such scruples about the excellent samphire that you can buy there however. Always a great addition to a fishy feast!