Scallops
and salmon, shark, marlin or blue eyed cod in lemon, tomato and herb sauce
Dad
(John M. McGloin) on the right, and two mates, one of whom is probably his RAF
buddy Fred Cuffley, and the other possibly being the DL. I'm unsure who is
who, as they were undoubtedly incognito and there's nothing written on the
photo, but to be sure Dad is the good looking bloke on the lower right.
"Cripes
Jock", said the Dalai Lama to my Dad, Saint John McGloin, "we don't eat
much over there in the East, a few bits of rice and odds and sods thrown in, but
when we eat we eat well". Dad
passed on this culinary family heirloom which found it's way to us courtesy of
his religious discussions with the DL, as he liked to call The Master.
As
mentioned elsewhere in the CokBok Dad thought he was destined to be a Roman
Catholic priest and had almost completed four years in a seminary when the
second world war erupted, so he joined the RAF and became a mechanic in 601
Spitfire squadron. As it happened
the DL was in the same squadron, undercover as he said because of circumstances,
and known to all as Rod Saffron, although Dad always showed due respect and
called him DL.
"DL, I
suppose St Michael and all the angels are having a tea break...."
There
was a lull in the fighting over the North African desert and stars blazed and
the world stopped and friends were one.
Dad
continued "It really makes you wonder doesn't it, here we are fighting
bloody Germans for this God forsaken wasteland, sand, flies, scorpions and
Arabs, and suddenly you look up and see the sky festooned with stars twinkling
like they did on Christmas Eve, and it's peaceful and perfect, and God's
smiling - see.."
"Cripes
Jock you're a deep one. You know the souls scatter to the heavens as stars and
some fall down, not many - you see them every now and then, but most stick up
there but..... And your God is naturally generous and kind and recognises the
limitations and imperfections of the human condition, so most get into Heaven
and become a star - you'd have to be pretty crook if you were knocked back - at the time of your misdeed you know you would have to be in full command of
your senses and have full cognisance of your sin.
"You'd
reckon DL that even the mass murderer must, at some stage in his mass murdering
spree, be sane enough to perceive
the import of his actions."
"Well
said Jock, and it's true in some cases, but overall the mass murderer is one
sick mind. Take your Hitler for instance, now he has planned his world
domination by the Aryans for some years, but the Bollocks himself is as loopy as
a loon, and was so when he wrote Mine Kampff. So, unless he suddenly becomes
sane and then commits a sin, thus becoming totally cognisant, the bastard will
get in and be frolicking along with the rest of us."
"But
DL, as I understand your Buddhist philosophy won't he have to take the
turnstile and come back to purify
himself in another lifeform, you know, a duck perhaps or wombat,
snake or porker? "
" Well
ordinarily, if you believe the premise of reincarnation that would be so. Me
I'm not so sure.....I mean think of it - what can a bloody duck do to
perfect itself? A bloody duck is only capable of doing ducky deeds ie. Jock,
it's limited by it's pure unadulterated intrinsic duckiness. It's not even
capable of being a chook never mind becoming the new and improved Good Hitler.
Humans are the same Jock, limited by their human condition."
"But
DL, there's humanity and inhumanity. "
"Too
true Jock. And four years in a Roman Catholic seminary has no doubt elucidated
the theological premise of choice. Mmmm, that's the dilemma, so it is, to be
sure. One wonders if what appears to be a decision, a choice of action or
inaction, might in fact be the only possible response given the person and the
circumstances?"
"DL,
so if we don't have choice then what is our purpose?"
"Jock,
I like the ancient Greek idea of the gods playing games with us, maybe putting
bets on our decisions. "What's he going to do next Apollo? Well let me
see.....according to his profile.......50 drachmas says he wins the woman and frees
the parrot."
Perhaps we attribute
too much importance to our reason for being, and our value is undoubtedly
questioned in times of earthquake, pestilence, famine and war - does one
perceive this as a vengeful God or a natural occurrence?"
"That
could be God testing our faith perhaps?"
"Well,
you could be right me old darling, but it's a big ask as they say, and then
you might possibly question the nature of the Divine Being".
"DL,
the DB, with reverence, is pretty well definitive I should think."
"Well
Jock, He is and He might be, depending on your beliefs,
He might
be sublime and holy or vengeful and viscous
The
earth or stars, or a woman on Mars,
Whole or
Part, or near or far
He or
She might be here and now or distant
Or a Cow
or a Goat or a foetus or a Rainbow
A
glistening Light in an Endless night
A nice
guy, a hero, an aberration like Nero,
A verse
or song or a drum or a gong,
Or a
split in the night or thunder in morn,
The roar
of a wave
Or a
flash in a storm,
A yawn
in the breeze
Or a
hush in a war
or yes
sir yes sir
yes sir
please,
help me
God upon my knees
just now
I see
a light
In the
dark,
a small
sad light thru a crack in the night
When
energy fails and nothing prevails and you just......
Need
someone to........
be
there.
Goodness
gracious great balls of fire,
Ah do
believe ah be saved
Praise
de Lawd.
Can I
get a witness
Can I
get a witness?
Somebody
somewhere?
Let me
hear ya say yeah!!"
"DL,
we're all headed in the same direction then?"
"To be
sure Jock, same direction, different bus but.......you'll take the high road
and I'll take the low road.......how's that fish curry coming along?"
This
recipe has expanded upon celebrated film producer (Room With A View, Howard's
End, The Remains of The Day) and chef Ismail Merchant's Hara Masala Wali
Machli "Codfish in Coriander Sauce" from his marvellous "Passionate
Meals".
1 kg
Salmon, shark, marlin or blue eyed cod
8 large
luscious Tasmanian scallops (optional)
3 medium
tomatoes
1 cup
coriander
half
cup assorted herbs or one herb - for instance Vietnamese mint, mint, basil,
dill, parsley etc
2.5 cm
fresh ginger
2 garlic
cloves
2 fresh
hot green chillies
1/4
teaspoon chilli powder
juice of
1 lemon and 1 orange
2
teaspoons salt
half teaspoon ground black pepper
3
tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or macadamia oil
1.
Place the fish
into a bowl.
2.
Place all in
the middle bracket into a food processor and blend.
3.
Pour the
mixture over the fish and allow to marinate for 1 hour or so - if pushed for
time 30 minutes will do.
4.
Heat the oil
and quickly fry the fish for 1 minute on each side then add the marinade mixture
and cook the fish in the mixture on medium heat for approximately 5 minutes
depending on thickness. If the fish steaks are about 1 inch then you will cook
in the mixture for 8 minutes. However for example if using a number of baby
shark portions, then 5 minutes in total should suffice.
Yoghurt Accompaniment
2 cups
1tsp chilli powder
1 tsp sugar
juice if 1/4 lemon
1 shallot chopped fine
1/4 cup fresh coriander chopped fine
1/3 cucumber chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1. Mix, taste and adjust to your tastebuds, if needed.