Cuttlefish fishing in Cornwall紋甲烏賊漁、早春のCornwall

For a brief period of 2-3 weeks, cuttlefish comes to the coast of Cornwall during its spawning season. Cuttlefish, in comparison to other members of class Cephalopod such as squid, has never been favoured in Great Britain, thus has neither been particularly cherished at markets. The fact that cuttlefish, if in its freshest condition, carries extreme sweetness and great texture, very pleasant on tongues, is often overlooked.

At Umu, we began receiving cuttlefish caught by fishermen of Cornwall, with which also an invitation to come and experience the fishing first-handedly. As updating and reassuring continuous practise of special fish preserving skill was too on my to-do list, I decided to visit Cornwall once again, only this time was in early spring.

Bright yellow colour of fields of tender-stem broccoli and deep green of fresh verdure, Cornwall in this gorgeous season of prosper was surrounded by colourful wild flowers and botanicals blooming in profusion. Only weather was being its usual imperfect self.

A technique used for cuttlefish fishing involves sets of trap – a cage one female cuttlefish is pre-captivated in before being laid down – into which attracted group of cuttlefish is lured towards. Unfortunately the trap on this particular day failed to capture any cuttlefish, leading us to practice gill net fishing instead. The final number of cuttlefish captured at the end of the day was, however, more than enough to completely cover us in its ink during performing removal of guts right there on the boat.

Additional entertainment I was privileged to come across was insightful tales told by the captain of the boat called Mario, a born and raised fisherman from Galapagos.

The next day, I took up the duty of preparing dinner to help Dylan and his wife Mutsuko who busied themselves for their pop up store at the farmers market. Using fish that had been freshly landed off the boat and vegetables I’d gotten from the market, I cooked a selection of 5 dishes. 15 cups worth of rice, mixed with sumptuous amount of crabs, were emptied in such a blink that I was stunned by the speed.

If I were able to deliver a sense of joy by my cooking to the family who by supplying the top quality fish makes us happy on daily basis, even if it was only the slightest, would have been my great pleasure.   

Cornwallの沿岸に、たった２，３週間の間、紋甲烏賊が産卵のためにやってきます。他の烏賊に比べ、もともと英国ではあまり好んで食べられないようで市場では良い扱いは受けていませんが、鮮度さえ良ければ非常に甘みが濃く、舌触りも良い素晴らしい食材です。

当店にも漁師から届き始めると共に、ぜひ漁を見に来いという誘いに誘発され、また、活けジメ作業のアップデートもしたかったので早春のCornwallに再び行ってきました。

この時期のCornwallは初めてでしたが、菜の花畑の黄色、新緑の緑、咲き乱れる色とりどりの野の花々など、とてもきれいでした。残念ながら相変わらず、天気はぐずついてばかりでしたが。

紋甲烏賊は専用のトラップ（かご）の中にメスの烏賊を一杯入れておくと、それにひきつけられて群れで入ってくるという面白い仕掛けを使います。当日はあいにくトラップには烏賊は入っておらず刺し網の漁のみとなりました。それでもたくさんの烏賊が獲れ、船内で行う内蔵を取り出す作業では体中墨だらけになりました。

この日の船長のMarioはガラパゴス出身の生まれながらの漁師で、船の中での会話では漁に対するさまざまな経験を聞くことが出来、楽しい経験となりました。

翌日はDylan夫婦がファーマーズマーケットに出店する日で、私は夕食を担当することにしました。船から揚がったばかりの魚と、マーケットで買った野菜を使って5品を作りました。蟹をたっぷり入れた約15カップのご飯があっという間になくなったのには驚きでした。

　毎日新鮮な魚を送ってくれて私たちを喜ばしてくれる大切なご家族を、私の料理で少しでも喜んでいただけたことは私にとっても本当に嬉しかったです。