One of the highlights of heading down south to the Otago Peninsula was stopping off at Moeraki.
We had a late lunch at Fleur's Place and ordered some wonderful dishes. Dave ordered muttonbird, and it was the first time anyone of us had tried it. It tastes more like a fish than a bird, rather like kippers! We loved the ambience, sitting outside beside a converted fishing shack and looking out at the soaring mollymawks and the changing sky.
Dave is feeling adventurous... this is something we read about muttonbird...
Muttonbird or Sooty Shearwater
These are native seabirds known as Titi in Maori. Because they are seabirds, their flesh is tough, salty and has a strong fishy taste to them, unless treated properly they are quite� an acquired taste, which has been described as chicken stuffed with kippers! They are readily available in New Zealand and normally bought (strangely enough) from fishmongers!
To remove or tone down the strong flavour; the plucked and drawn bird is best soaked for a day, with the water being changed every 8 hours, then boiled for at least 45 minutes, the water changed and re-boiled and then repeated a third time until the flesh has softened. It may then be slowly grilled or roasted to taste
Here it is up close - muttonbird with spinach and Maori potatoes (they are purple!).
Our slightly less exotic dishes - queen scallops with rewana bread, and some lovely salmon.
3 comments:
so was the mutton bird good?
it looked yum!
Errm - being diplomatic - I gladly 'shared' it with Char, and probably will never order it again. But it wasn't revolting either. Just incredibly strong and salty! It's definitely worth trying though if you're an adventurous eater!
that first photograph is awesome.
oh moeraki!
Post a Comment