Dear LPG readers,

Over the past four years, I have done my best to inspire with my ‘independence cooking,’ and those who have read some of the results will know that I am no cook. However, giving myself this monthly challenge has taught me a thing or two about approaching a cooking recipe that I have never tried before.

The one thing I have learnt is that reading the recipe at the choosing stage is paramount, and having described myself as ‘no cook’, I thought a recipe that needed no cooking would be perfect.  No matter how well I re-read it, I always get one little detail wrong, but I continue to do my best to prepare by putting the ingredients together as the first step.  The international flavours have dictated a need to go to some shops that I would have never entered before I started this. There are a few smaller, ethnic, specialist shops in Lewisham Borough with staff who see me coming and expect to be shown my printed recipe and asked many questions about ingredients I do not know. 

When it came to this recipe, there wasn’t even a need to use the expensive gas or electricity that we are becoming increasingly used to.  

I went to the fishmongers to get the fish needed, but I needed to remember the printed recipe and added one word too many when asking for what I wanted.  I asked for red snapper fish, not just snapper fish, which are very different.  It was all a case of cutting things up after that, but there were so many more bones in the red variety of the fish that I had to go back to the drawing board.  I checked on the internet that you could use cod, so, in the end, I used some cod fillets, meaning there were no bones, and cutting was simple. 

As long as I marinated for the maximum time mentioned, it would all be good, and it was, although I am not sure about the authenticity of the taste. If I try it again, I think I will go for snapper fillets.   

For November, a virtual trip to the Congo might be in order, having discovered that their national dish would translate into a hearty chicken dinner in the UK. So, I am planning the production of their Moambe Chicken (Congo Poulet Moambe) to coincide with their Republic Day, which is celebrated on November 28th. How hard could it be to coin a phrase?

CB, Lewisham.

CB gets the internet to show you how it’s done…

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