Extraordinary Food Memories #1

One of my fondest extraordinary food memories stems from spending time with my Nanny fishing, singing, and pan frying.  Every weekend my nanny had the energy, she would wake me up at the crack of dawn, urge me sternly to get dressed, and ask for my help gathering the rods and tackle.   As far as my memory serves me correctly, I do not remember engaging in any meaningful conversation on the way to the sweet spot where all the fish would bite our hooks.  However, once we arrived at the spot she used every time, she began to sing.  With spry youngster curiosity I asked why she sang and she told me that the fish love to hear people sing.  The more you sing, the better your tune, the more likely they were to bite our hooks.  So we spent a good portion of the morning singing to the fish, sipping on hot chocolate at times when the wind was brisk and lively.  I will never forget helping her dig for the worms and watching them wriggle as we attempted to skewer them on the barbed hook.  When the mood was set, the worms were wiggling, my nanny pulled out beautiful, fat, blue gills every few minutes.  She always told me that once you caught the fish, you needed to take extra care not to make them upset.  Nanny had me on water bucket change out constantly because she wanted the fish to have the freshest water before their ultimate demise.  After we caught our fill, we rushed back to her house where we began to set up for one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had.  We placed old newspaper over the pick nick table, retrieved the fillet knife, prepare our batter, and heated the oil.  At first I was horrified that my Nanny would fish these beautiful fish, however, she made sure I paid attention to every word and action she did.  She explained that because we were blessed with these beautiful fish, that we needed to do things quickly as to make sure they felt no pain.  Within 60 seconds the head, the fins, the guts, and the scales were gone.  In another 30 seconds the fish was battered and placed directly into the hot oil we heated a little earlier.  She did this over and over until somehow all of the fish were in the frying pan, being cooked to a beautiful golden crisp.  Once the fish were done cooking, we sat, laughed, and enjoyed our catch.  However, before we could start eating we prayed to give thanks for our catch.  After the fish were consumed, we bowed our heads, and thanked the fish for such a great meal.  I was 4 years old at the time, and still to this day these memories ring hard and true.  It is because of my Nanny’s amazing lessons on showing respect to the food we caught that has inspired me to respect every ingredient I use in my cooking.