Bluff Oyster Festival

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davidt4, May 25, 11:20pm
Have you tried smoking it? I think blue cod is one of the best fish for smoking and I wish it was more readily available in Auckland. I do see it at the fish market but it's never top quality by the time it gets here.

beaker59, May 26, 1:05am
Haven't tried it smoked but then where we catch them there's also plenty of far better fish like Hapuka, Blue Nose, Gemfish ,Rays Bream etc etc. Seriously I don't rate them they lack the depth of flavor and have a smell when fresh that reminds me of Diesel, my wife won't allow them in the house and she's raised on the Chatham Islands where they are pretty easy to catch. Guess I'm a bit spoilt for good quality fresh fish.

rainrain1, May 26, 2:12am
Well I never. Hells bells and buckets of blood

sampa, May 26, 2:48am
Was a few months back now but, yes, bought a whole one and hubby smoked it. Delicious but definitely not a cheap exercise. Still with just two of us eating meat/fish we can splurge sometimes. Of course being from the NI I have the obvious fondness for snapper too (as does my dog who was horrified the first time she was with us and we hauled one into the boat - that lasted about as long as it took her to put 2 + 2 together and realise the end result was yummy smoked fish). Yes, she's a tad spoiled. ;))

kay141, May 26, 2:55am
Should have said I get mainly Cook Strait blue cod. I have seen it occasionally at the Riverbank market but it sells out very quickly. Steeds fisheries are the Wellington area all week, different places on different days. Google Fish on Wheels for their other locations.

kay141, May 26, 2:55am
It maybe who you know.

rainrain1, May 26, 3:01am
Yes Snappers not too bad, love filleted sole, can handle a jock stewart, groper steaks are an absolute favourite, don't mind a bit of brill and flounder, but pan fried in butter blue cod, gets the old salivas going. with a bit of tartare on the side. I love my fish, and nobody in the whole world will convince me that southern blue cod is nothing but THE best!

samanya, May 26, 5:41am
Thanks Kay, I can get it from Stewart Island, at a price.
I'm hesitant to buy a large amount that is required for an order as I don't like keeping it too long in the freezer . other things yep, but not precious blue cod (or whitebait)

buzzy110, May 27, 1:37am
So how do you get fresh out of the water cod from Bluff to Wellington to eat the same evening at a reasonable cost?

kay141, May 27, 1:48am
Do you read my posts or just look for something to pick? I said I got it the same day not that I ate it that day. The cost is usually nil. As I said it's who you know.

245sam, May 27, 2:07am
As well as the initial taste treat of raw oysters DH and I shared a seafood platter - another 2 each raw oysters, the cooked (battered) oysters, mussels in the shell, smoked mussels, prawns, battered blue cod, squid/calamari, crayfish, some fries and I also had a little bit of something really healthy (the lettuce leaf that some of the seafood was on). Scallops, salmon and kina were also available. From what we saw virtually everything food-wise was fish/seafood with the exception of some sweet (chocolate) treats that we didn't have and haggis that we also didn't have because we've had (and enjoyed) haggis on at least two earlier occasions. I was interested in trying muttonbird but decided against if after watching a young lass from Auckland who sat opposite us, trying to find something enticing about the stuffed ½ muttonbird that she had bought for lunch - there was a lot of fat/grease, a heap of stuffing and very very little meat.
A coffee cart appeared to be doing good business and there was a very well-stocked and very busy large cold refreshments area.
All in all an interesting experience, made all the better by the fact that the weather was mainly fine during the time we were at the festival itself. :-))

rainrain1, May 27, 2:15am
Great description 245sam. real Southern fare, pity you didn't try the mutton bird, it has a taste all of it's own. I can't imagine it stuffed though, or even why anyone would want to stuff it

kay141, May 27, 2:27am
Sounds marvellous. Mutton birds can be an acquired taste, I'v enever has a stuffed one. When I was younger, the southern F&C shops sold them deep-fried, may still do, but I could never eat those. I have cooked them myself by boiling and changing the water several times. Then, IMO, they are edible, taste like a strong, fishy bird, but I wouldn't spend my hard earned dollars on them. Free is a different story.
Love a well made haggis, not an el cheapo, all oatmeal and no offal.

245sam, May 27, 3:01am
Thanks rainrain1.

From what I saw the muttonbird had the colour and texture of cooked mutton and I knew/understood that it had a 'fishy' taste, but after the platter there really was no room for more food - we both just needed something to drink. Sometime I would still like to have a small taste of muttonbird though and the only choices we could see for trying muttonbird at the festival were the stuffed ½ bird or stew (muttonbird heart stew? ). Had it been available a small sliver or two on a cracker biscuit, croute or nice fresh bread would indeed have sufficed and I'm sure we could have found just enough room for that small morsel. Another day, another time, hopefully. :-))

rainrain1, May 27, 5:18am
I wonder if it is unsalted, stuffed and roasted? ha ha, I have no idea whatsoever, and am only surmising. I have cooked and eaten salted and boiled muttonbird which wouldn't be boiled if it was stuffed would it? Or would it?

huzzar, Jun 3, 11:17am
Correct unsalted, stuffed and roasted