Sicilian style fish with absolutely tons of basil, capers, tomatoes and such; and a lovely greengage, ricotta and almond cake

More fish? Damn right.

We’ve been catching snapper aplenty in Golden Bay. A haul the other day yielded some fillets of snapper that were so lovely and thick that I could’ve sworn it was hapuka…perfect.

I get very enthusiastic about recipes that consist of a few ingredients in excessive quantities; plenty of garlic, tons of basil.

Generosity in earnest.

Very often it seems like basil is merely a garnish, which is a terrible, pointless waste.

So use your basil it in abundance - throw in fistfuls of the stuff.

I don’t need to go on any more about the joys of tomato, garlic and basil, but some things are cliches for a reason.

Dad bought a bag of Greengage plums from the Riwaka petrol station the other day. They were some of the best plums I’ve ever eaten. I simply HAD to make CAKE.

Nerd me feels the need to say that Greengage plums actually hail from Iran. Sir William Gage is credited with introducing Greengages to Europe, hence the name.

Stone fruits are amongst the first fruits cultivated by us humans. They originate from the Far East, as far as China, and as far west as the Caucasus.

The cake recipe is a lovely, almost custardy consistency, thanks to the ricotta. Use any kind of stone fruit for this, but heck, use banana if you want. Would probably be quite delicious.

Enjoy the rest of the week - I’ll be back with more recipes on Sunday.

S xx

SICILIAN STLE FISH

Snapper, hapuka, porae - make sure that it is reasonably thick, and, of course, as fresh as can be.