In September we went for a fortnight's holiday to Western Australia specifically to see the spring wildflower of the South West of the state. Having grown lots of these species in the last 30 years in the garden and in the nursery, it was exciting to see where the plants grew in their natural habitat. Now I can see why some of them struggle in our wetter and slightly colder climate.
The trip wasn't about experimenting with local foods but we did have an interesting conversation with the two men on the beach in the photo below.
This is Salmon Holes, a beach near Albany and a well know fishing spot for Eastern Australian Salmon. The salmon swim into the little gutter formed by the rocks just out from the beach. These two men had only caught 2 fish that day, but they were huge, several kilos each. We started chatting to them and found out that they used to preserve the fish. This involved cooking the fish for three hours in ? a pressure cooker and then bottling in brine in vacuum preserving jars just like I use for fruit. He said salmon done this way tasted even better than fresh. High praise indeed.
Of course it wasn't the place to ask specifics so since then I have been hunting high and low for a recipe. I rang up the Jams and Preserves segment on ABC radio one Sarurday morning but could only get a recipe for pickled fish. Finally I found a book in the library called Preserving The Italian Way which has recipes for preserving fish in oil or brine. Now I just need to catch enough fish to give it a go.
