Seafood straight from the sea can be a challenge when you live in the Karoo.
Salt lingering in the air, sand between your toes. A breeze right off the waves and into your nostrils, ruffling your hair. The ambient mood of sea, foam, and the mysterious, distant horizon beyond the silent tankers and pilot boats, add to a sense of wonder and vitality.
When you live in the Karoo, you cultivate a good local butcher to ensure you have access to the best meats in town. And when you do get to visit the coast, you need to find the fishmonger with the best, freshest fish. The one that the locals go to, again and again. Nine times out of ten that will be the fish shop next to the sea.
We’re lucky in that our Karoo town is only a two and a half hour drive from the sea. The nearest port is Gqeberha where there is a superb shop called Fisherman Fresh, right in the docks. You have to know where it is or you’d never find it. And for the best catch, you need to get there early. This Friday morning, I was there at 9.10am . There was already a queue out the door and cars pulling up every minute.
Choices, choices. I chose tuna steaks first, as I had hoped for them on my two previous visits and this time there they were, waiting for me. I chose two f0r that night and two more to freeze, which is an inevitability when you live as far from the ocean as I do but love fish and need to write about it on occasion. I also selected a whole kob , a pair of swordfish cutlets, and a side of yellowtail.