Spaghetti with Mixed Shellfish in Tomato Sauce - Photo recipe

Fish, grill and woodfire

We made a short break from sailing to meet our relatives form Zagreb. Off course, family reunions are always ideal opportunities for great dinning! And in Dalmatia this demands to start the woodfire and grill the fish. We call it “Riba na gradele” or shorter “Gradelada”.

To grill the fish requires audience because it is the ritual, it is the ceremony. To be responsible for starting up the fire and manage the grilling, to be “The Master or The Mistress (there is no gender problem here ) of Ceremony” is a big privilege and it is considered to be a great honor.

It takes years of learning and practice to get that right feeling that is necessary to start the fire. To know when the heat is right to put the grills on fire, when is the best moment to turn the fish so it doesn’t break or that skin doesn’t stick to the grills... Some believe that it is the talent you have to be born with.

Riba na gradele - (Grilled fish)
Starting the fire is first and crucial step.

Start the smaller flame with old newspaper and smaller, dry branches. Be aware to leave plenty of air space in between branches because fire needs oxygen to burn.

Set larger wood in the form of pyramid on top of the firestarter. Using the right wood for the fire is very important. Use dry wood. "Seasoned" wood is the best for making a fire. The wood should burn slow and hot. Add grapevine twigs when grilling the fish because it will give special aroma to the fish. Keep your fire "alive" until wood compliantly burs out and transforms in red embers.

Meanwhile, clean the grills with steel brush. Put the grills on the fire (when the flame is still high) so the all residues from earlier gradelade burns out. Afterwards smear with olive oil using the napkin.

When the grills are hot and the wood has burned out and you have hot embers, it is time to start to grill the fish.

While you are waiting wood to burn out, clean and gut the fish. Smaller fishes you can leave whole but larger you will have to slice. Dry the fish and then season it with olive oil and salt.

Put the fishes on the grills. Wait until the skin or meat gets the crust. Turn the fish. Use the rosemary to pat fish with olive oil. When other side gets the crust remove fish on plate and pour olive oil, parsley and garlic.

People in Dalmatia believe that fish has to swim three times: in the sea, in the oil and in the wine, so the glass (one glass, not whole bottle) of good Dalmatian wine is important part of the fish meal.

more fish, more grill, more woodfire

Fried fish

Buy fresh fish. This is the essential! If you are not lucky enough to buy fish directly from fisherman boat like we did, you will have to know haw to recognize fresh fish! Clear eyes, bright red, moist gills and pleasant, fresh smell are best signs of the fresh fish.
Don’t choose big fish. Smaller fish have firmer flesh that is and more tasteful.

Clean and gut fish (I'm planning to write step by step tutorial on how to clean and gut a fish soon) We leave the head on, but you can remove it if you prefer it that way. You can cut the fish in fillets, but if you leave it whole you will get softer, more tasteful meat.

Place flour on plate. Coat the fish with flour and shake of the excess. The more practical way is to mix flour with salt and paper in a plastic bag and than place the fish in plastic bag, close the bag and shake it well. Place it on the plate. If you have time leave it to dry for about one hour. This will give you nicer crust and more taste.

Heat good quality extra virgin olive oil in large fraying pan (heath well the pan prior pouring the oil) and place fish in the pan. Fish should be fried in hot oil. Shake pan for the first few seconds to avoid fish stick to pan. Fry until skin gets golden crust. Carefully turn fish on the other side. Again, fry until skin turns golden brown.

Put the fish on the plate. Season it with salt. You can sprinkle it with drop of olive oil, parsley and garlic. Serve it with slice of lemon with a side of sliced tomatoes salad.

Buying fresh fish

We are sailing, we are fishing, we are eating....

The first exacting thing we did was two weeks long vacation on our old wooden sailing boat called "Lutalica" meaning "Vagabond". We wondered around nearby islands of Drvenik Veli, Drvenik Mali and Šolta.

The crew were: my parents, my nephew Roko, my "precious one" and me! My sister joined us letter. Our boat is old and small but offers great comfort. But cooking on boat requires lots of good organization. Although the kitchen is really small and very essential we managed to cook and eat fabulous breakfasts, lunches and dinners. The secret is in my mother's experience in organizing the stocks and cooking on boat that she gathered over the years. More about cooking coming soon!

First we visited beautiful cove on mainland called Stari Togir (43° 29.5'N; 16° 02'E), meaning 'Old Trogir' that was the site of an ancient town called Trogir, allegedly visited by Cleopatra. There are remains of the old roman palace and old walls that are partially submerged under the sea. At the end of the cove there is beautiful small sandy beach. We spent our first day just relaxing and putting ourselves in "boat" mood.

Next day we sailed to the island Mali Drvenik, little port Borak (43^o26,6' N - 16^o05,1' E) and spent two days in that small port that seemed frozen in same strange time. The only connection with a mainland is a small ferry that during the summer drives two or three times a day. But, we did get a special bonus - our neighbors were fisherman boats which gave as the great source of fresh Adriatic fish for our hungry tummies!

Drvenik Mali is beautiful small Island situated 8 nautical miles from Trogir. Locals cultivate olives and grape so you can buy great home made olive oil and wine. Since the sea around the island is shallow and rich in fish, there are lots of fishermen and it is great opportunity to buy fresh fish directly from fisherman boat. We didn't miss that opportunity! On the island there are few nice sandy beaches. One afternoon we walked to cove of Vela Rina, known as the most beautify beach on the island. Vela Rina (43^o26.6' N - 16^o05.1' E) is also a pier for smaller yachts.

Grandma Medicine

I got cold and as soon as my parents heard it they sent me huge amount of of lemons, oranges, grapefruits and tangerines from their garden.

That's because they deeply believe that mixture or lemon and honey can cure anything!

I have to admit that I always first try with "grandma medicine" before I run to antibiotics, pills and similar. And it usually helps just fine!

So it was this time too. Few days of overeating vitamins from this delicious fruits and I'm feel much better now. Maybe aspirin would be faster, but this was testier for sure!

Although I did eat and drink lots of these vitamin bombs I still have too much that I'm afraid that we will not succeeded to eat them before they start to rotten. So within next few days you can expect my posts, recipes, StepBySteps... for lemon cakes, lemon/orange/tangerine curds, candied lemon and orange peels...

Any suggestions?