What’s for dinner?

I sometimes find myself driving home from work with no idea what I’m going to be making for dinner. That happened to me yesterday. I was leaning towards fish and then I remembered a dish my mom used to prepare all the time. Baked mackerel in a white wine and tomato paste sauce. I headed over to our local fish market.

A quick call to mom.

During the drive, I called mom for a quick list of ingredients. She gave the list and explained her process to me. It’s really cute… I can usually hear my dad in the background whispering additional instructions to my mom. On this call I could hear him saying, “tell him, not too fatty…and make sure they clean the fish well” and other tidbits of advice.

It’s extra funny for me when I hear this, because my dad’s never been very comfortable in the kitchen…but he likes to share his wisdom when it comes to cuts of meat or working with fish. I guess those tasks were always his contribution to our meals…plus, fishing and working the land are kind of in his blood. And nowadays, I think he gets a real kick out of knowing I’m preparing traditional foods that I grew up with, and which he loves.

No Mackerel? Now what?

I got to the fish market and immediately noticed they only had one mackerel left. Definitely not enough for all four of us. This fish market is fantastic; it’s clean and has a nice variety of fish. One thing though, they don’t carry a lot of fish that’s typically caught and prepared in the Azores.

So now what? I checked out their other options. Fortunately they have the fish names in English and a few other languages. I noticed the name “Robalo” on the bottom of the label for their European seabass. I recognized that name! I whipped out my phone and gave my mom another quick call. Woot-woot! She conformed I could use that fish with the same recipe.

A very nice dinner!

The recipe was a hit. The house smelled amazing while the fish cooked and the sauce was so delicious! It really brought me back to my childhood home. That’s such a sweet feeling.

Whole fish was ‘normal’ for me, and even for Liz (who was born and raised far from any coast but whose Portuguese parents also cooked fish like this). My boys, however, are pretty normal North American kids — who are used to living far from the ocean — and who are used to being served boneless filets of fish. Surprisingly, they did very well with eating around and picking out fish bones…and they seemed to really enjoy the fish!

I’ll be cooking whole fish more often. It tastes great and it’s so healthy. We need this now and again…you know… to balance out our treats and indulgences.

Enjoy something different with your family tonight, and remember to always eat well, friends!

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5 from 1 vote