Vacation cooking, French West Indies

On a little speck of rock set in the middle of the ocean in the Lesser Antilles. Part of the French West Indies. Been coming for many years to practice my French language skills and French Island eating. Trying out some cooking this time. We have rented a house with a full kitchen. The grocery stores are great here. Like being in Paris with a Caribbean twist. The fish markets are small and selection not huge as they only have locally caught fish but everything is fresher than you can imagine. Caught that day.

Bought this piece of tuna. Almost 2 kilos. Cost €36.

Separated the belly piece

Used it to make a crudo with lime, olive oil, yellow tomato, spring onions, shallots, pomegranate.

Then took another slice for making some tartar.

Finally made the remainder into steak to make mi-cuit (seared, raw in the center) but forgot to take pictures before we ate them.

Just unbelievably good. There is no market near me at home where I can get belly much less a piece of tuna this fresh and good.

Next up, lobster. Had the market split and clean it. Made a butter mixture of garlic, anchovies and lime juice. Smeared all over the flesh.

Then on the grill for 15 minutes eat voilà.

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Lovely!

Absolutely wonderful.
What is great about cooking in this sort of conditions is that what you make is nothing elaborate, but the freshness of the ingredients makes it the star of the meal, and tasty.
I will be going fishing in Alaska in a few weeks, with 3 other of my best friends. Our cooking there is similar…take some of our fresh catch, prepare it simply. I may bring some condiments that are hard to find there, and a few sharp knives…and we should be good to go.

Thank you for sharing your pictures and your experience.

Aloha

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Aren’t you lucky to be in such a beautiful place! I spent a few years in those islands on boats in the early 70s😳. Lobster looks really tasty.

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