Miles Collins

Dreaming of Faraway Places….

It’s been a pretty hectic week so far, I’m tired and losing my voice in my job is like losing my arms. The staff think Christmas has come early but I’ll soon be back! There isn’t much to smile about right now, it’s cold, the darker days are here, Christmas and all of that catering will soon be upon me and time off is but a distant memory. Oh, and then there’s Christmas shopping, now if anything makes a man miserable then it has to be that!

So it got me thinking about getting away from it all at some point soon. I am due a decent vaccation again, somewhere warm with plenty to do, somewhere like Singapore, my favourite country of them all. In the midst of all the rushing about I still managed to recall a meal at a famous eaterie in Singapore called Sammy’s where I had the best fish head curry washed down with the coldest of Tiger beer’s. So good was the food there that I would return several times before returning home. So good, I’ve been returning there mentally ever since….

Fish head curry really isn’t as gross as it probably sounds, there is plenty of thick, delicious flesh to be found in the right fish and this is all simmered in a pool of fragrant curry. I don’t have an exact recipe but I do remember talking to the chef at the Shangri La Hotel in Sabah, Borneo and he told me that the sauce began with the ‘cracking’ of cumin, fenugreek and fennel seeds in hot oil followed by fresh curry leaves and, most likely a great dollop of ginger-garlic paste. From here I am guessing the rest, probably a freshly ground masala, plenty of onions, chopped tomatoes and undoubtedly fresh tamarind or lime juice. I give up, Sammy if you read this then do me a favour and post the recipe here-I won’t tell anyone

Have a go at a fish curry, use some thick pieces of fish, sustainable source only please and something cheap which can take on the strong spices. It’s perfect for this time of year.