The Man from Mosel River

Easter calls for some special celebrations. Because we were at home, the four of us for the first time since a long time, we needed something yummy.

We had a red snapper left in the fridge and decided to prepare it in the style of Guadeloupe and Martinique. The recipe we got from Mark Bittman, “Fish – The complete guide to buying and cooking”, Hungry Minds Co, New York 1994, and it goes as follows:

– 4 firm-fleshed steaks from a large red snapper, scaled, gutted (head on or off as you like it best)
– 2 cups of water
– 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
– salt
– 1/4 cup olive oil
– 1 cup chopped shallots, scallions (both green and white parts)
– 1 tablespoon minced garlic
– 1 hot pepper, deveined, seeds and chopped
– 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes,
– 1 bay leave
– 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
– 1/2 table spoon minced fresh thyme
– freshly ground black pepper
– lime wedges

You marinate the fish in the water, lime juice and 1 table spoon of salt (make sure the fish is completely covered) for about 30 minutes (drain, refrigerate if the weather is too warm, as it is here in tropical Jakarta).

Heat the oil and cook the shallots, about two thirds of the garlic and the chopped red pepper until soft, then add the tomatoes and herbs, season with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes. Drain the fish and add the above together with some of the marinade, add some more garlic and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. Spoon the marinade over the fish and serve with rice and the lemon wedges.

Voilá, that’s what it may look like.

Court Boullion, red snapper

Needless to say, the red snapper was delicious. We had rice and some steamed vegetables with it. Since we ran out of white wine (how terrible in a vintner’s family), we opened instead a bottle of Pinot Noir. It came from South Baden (Kaiserstuhl), a ‘2005 Ihringer Winklerberg Spätburgunder’, dry wine, 13.5 % alcohol, produced by the Ihringer Winegrowers Co-operative (www.winzergenossenschaft-ihringen.de).

It was a typical Pinot Noir as far as the colour was concerned. It was fresh, fruity and showed well balanced tannins and acids. The aromas were dominated by forest berries. But despite this it complemented the hot chili taste of the red snapper very well.

The bottle was given to me by Birgit Lamm, the director of our International Academy for Leadership in Gummersbach, Germany after I facilitated a training recently. It did not last long. But wine in the tropics needs to be consumed rather earlier than later. Thanks again for this nice gift. I’ll come back for more soon.

2005 Ihringer Winklerberg Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir)

After the meal we had espresso and cognac together with some thin chocolates. I smoked a Juan Clemente cigar (made in Santiago, Dominican Republic) which was excellent. I had acquired them during my recent trip to my hometown Trier, Germany, from Wolsdorff Tobacco where I usually stock up on cigars.