Fresh From The Sea by Fabian Black

Author:Fabian Black [Black, Fabian]
Language: nld
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Romance MM, erotic MM
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Three

"What desserts have you got planned for this evening,

Lin, clam chowder ice cream, mackerel and chocolate

gateaux?”

David sat at the kitchen table, a black felt tip pen

poised over the whiteboard on which he’d recorded

starters and mains. It was almost one o clock and already a

few people had gathered in front of Sandstones. They were

waiting in expectation for the board to go up on the door so

they could see what dishes The Venus was going to offer

that evening and whether they fancied them enough to

compete for a table.

“Ha, ha, and don’t think I haven’t tried them.” Lin

scooped up the heads, skin and bones of the fish he’d

cleaned and filleted, depositing them into a colander. He

rinsed them thoroughly under the cold tap before placing

them in a large pan to be turned into fish stock. The

36

innards he slipped into a plastic bag and tied up ready to

be binned. Wrapping the prepared fish in waxed paper he

packed them neatly into boxes and slid them into the

chiller cabinet ready to be cooked to order.

The mackerel remained in one piece looking sad,

beautiful, but sad, as it lay on the granite slab, its metallic

markings glimmering in the early afternoon sun. Lin gazed

at it thoughtfully. It had been robbed of its life. Decency

demanded its death should not be in vain. The laws of

predator and hunted must be fulfilled. The mackerel had

lost the game. It therefore had to be consumed and not

simply discarded as if of no worth.

However, one mackerel wouldn’t go far, not even in

an eatery as small as The Venus and David disliked

mackerel, claiming it gave him indigestion.

“Stop staring at that fish. You can’t bring it back to

life. Tell me what puddings to write up for this evening. I

want to get the board up or we'll have people knocking on

the door and looking in the windows. I'll have a stab at

making something if you like?"

David had discovered he enjoyed baking. He found it

relaxing and was ever hopeful of making something Lin

would approve for public consumption, other than the

occasional scone served on high days and holidays.

37

"We've got plenty of kiwi fruit and strawberries. I could

rustle up a kiwi and strawberry cheesecake? The colour

combo would look good.”

“No thank you. I have it all in hand.” Lin dragged his

eyes away from the deceased fish. “How does apricot slut

with homemade rhubarb ice cream sound, and a

gooseberry and elderflower twit?”

David grimaced. “I am not writing that on the board.”

“Oh all right,” Lin deftly caught the pen top David

lobbed at him. He lobbed it back, “be boring then. Make it

plain old apricot tart and gooseberry and elderflower fool.”

The mention of fools and gooseberries gave him an idea.

Grabbing his knife he deftly filleted the bonnie mackerel.

Simply grilled with a mound of homemade

gooseberry relish by its side and surrounded by triangles of

hot buttered toast the fish was in its element. Mackerel and

gooseberry was a traditional partnership, the sharpness of

the fruit offsetting the rich oiliness of the fish, but tradition

did not necessarily equate with boring. Things only became

traditional because they worked well.

Picking up the plate with an air of veneration he held

it out to David.

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