The portable black and white television, purchased by my Mum from Kmart for $99 in 1982, will soon no longer work. The regional switch over to digital is but a few months away. This delightful styling that sits on my fridge, creating a portal to two of the five non-digital channels, will soon fall silent.
But not yet.
While washing up the other day, I was presented with River Cottage’s episode about fish. I came away with a keenly felt piece of advice…
- Vary the types of fish you eat.
It has nothing to do with nutrition. It’s about spreading the load across a wide range of fish populations to help manage sustainable stocks and avoid overfishing. That’s a type of efficiency.
I decided to start my Year Of by getting on top of protein. Fish is protein. I will start with fish.
Some years ago, I was mad keen for tinned tuna with rice – cheap, filling and tasty. One day, I sat down with my meal and started watching a local movie, The Dish. I grew up near, and then in, Parkes during the 60s and 70s. My Nan delivered mail and bread to the farms around the telescope for many years, and my siblings and I would often help out during school holidays. So, the landscapes in the opening shots of the movie were deliciously memorable. The car pulled up and there it was on the passenger seat, the local three-days-a-week newspaper, the “Champion Post”, just a bit out of focus. I must have been homesick. The mouthful of rice and tuna got emotionally entrenched in the wrong spot. I won’t describe it any further as it might spoil your memories of tuna, rice and/or The Dish. I still eat rice. I’ve seen the movie a couple of times. But, I have not eaten tuna since.
Lately, my fish consumption has been a supermarket-sourced frozen something. River Cottage suggested that it is unnecessary to eat frozen if there is a fresh fish market nearby. There is.
My sources suggest fish once or twice a week.
I love the look of River Cottage’s sardine bake and fresh fish in foil is easy.
Add to my To Do list: Buy sardines and fresh fish. Compare price with the frozen box in the freezer. Assess. Decide.
Cherrie Zell 