Bonito Bolognese: Catch ‘n Cook series
Bonito Bolognese: Catch ‘n Cook series – this was written in 2014 – The Sardine News has been publishing since 1986.
But ok, if there are any fish out there plentiful enough to be harvested, it would be the many bonito. Eastern Little Tuna. Skipjack. Sarda Sarda. Kawa Kawa. And others. They are all tunas. And in fact, skipjack tuna is the guy you buy in a tin from the shops. A practice I have stopped completely. Every time you buy a tin of tuna, you are directly filling the diesel tanks of the hated trawlers and long-liners we see even plundering along our very own coastline.
Bonito Bolognese
Bonito Bolognaise is a super healthy version of your regular beef bolognese spaghetti meal.
Step 1
Catch a bonito…
Step 2
Bleed, loin and grate/grind the bonito into mince form. A cheese grater does the job just fine. And removes most of the sinew efficiently. But a real mince maker if you have one…will save you some time and effort.
Step 3
This is my simple campfire method. Since at the campsite is where and how we invented bonito bolognese. We had just sunk at Pomene. For real – the boat we had just purchased from a complete drunk for USD 1000 (sporting twin 115hp V4 Yamaha 2 Strokes) had some latent defects. The boat just couldn’t stay afloat for extended periods. Her name was Nikita, she sank right in the holding area on the point at Pomene. With me and Paul asleep in the cabin. We woke up in the early hours. Pitch dark and storming hard. Both soaking wet as the high tide filled the boat and our sleeping quarters.
We had travelled by sea from Tofo the day before. Wild sea. One motor spun a prop halfway. So we arrived in the dark. Sinking but not quite sunk. Yet. Paul and I took watch and slept on the mostly floating boat.
6 AM the next day- it was cold that eventful morning. Soooo cold. Mid-winter cold front and exposed on the beach. And we were soaked. And sunk. Paul and I escaped the sunk vessel and tried to make a fire on the beach. Our victims (read guests) – most of our friends from Tofo, had all scuttled the boat upon arrival in the dark the night before. And eagerly settled in the beach camp. About 200 metres from where the boat had just sunk.
Luckily with first light – Chad from Tofo was also awake and saw our predicament. He brought us coffee and helped to recover all the flotsam and jetson strewn about the beach. Once the tide had turned to go back out again, and we had anchored the sunk boat and put her in recovery position (on a steep piece of beach to drain her out again), we left our post and headed to the salvation of the beach camp. Camp was buzzing when we finally made it across the beach.
I stumbled into the kitchen area, found a spot under a table and made a little bed. And cleanly passed out. It was an exhausting evening and morning. Sinking is never fun. Paul found himself a spot somewhere too and we got some deserved shut-eye.
The boat was a big old Interceptor from Invader and somehow we had gotten 9 people on board. And a helluva lot of stuff. There was so much food. Cooler boxes. Crates. Bags. BUT! Someone had forgotten the 2kgs of mince we had brought along for our first big meal together. A spaghetti bolognese.
When I woke at about 11, the mince was a big issue. And that’s when it came to me! Grate the tuna! We had caught so many fish (including Chad’s first-ever sailfish) on the drive from Tofo to Pomene, that we had been filleting some of them along the way. And keeping some beautiful tuna loins for sushi or sashimi. This stuff was perfect. And the cheese grater made short work of the loins. Soon we had far more than 2kgs of mince. Which was a very good thing.
Because, out of all the hundreds of bonito bolognese’s I have made thus far, every single one has sold out. There has never, ever, been leftover bonito bolognese.
Bonito Bolognese Recipe
- Fry some onions a while…add the tuna mince about halfway to brown
- Tomatos etc…
- Garlic etc…
Done!
Big Meal
Making a huge bowl of gourmet bonito mince is my best plan. It fridges and freezes well, so you can make a whole bonito’s worth and stash it away for things like Spaghetti Bolognese, Mince on Toast, Samoosas and even Vetkoek!
Make a heap and live good!
Sardines and Sighting Maps
Channels
Websites
umzimkulu.co.za – self-catering right on the Umzimkulu River
umzimkuluadrenalin.co.za – will get you right out and onto the edge
thesardine.co.za – never miss a single sardine
masterwatermen.co.za – news from deep down
fishbazaruto.com – your dreams are out there
