Snoek on the coals

How to braai a snoek
Select a large, firm snoek (if snoek is not available you can use any firm-fleshed white fish). Salting the snoek straight after it’s been caught helps to keep it firm. You can clean and fleck (cut open along the spine) it yourself or ask your fishmonger to do it for you. The best time of the year for catching or buying fresh snoek in the Cape is toward winter –the season is short, usually from April to July. Braai the snoek skin side down, first, then turn it over to colour the flesh. Use a hinged grid to prevent the fish from breaking or falling out when turning it. Be liberal with the basting sauce and splash it on frequently (see recipe) to keep the snoek from drying out. Cooking time is 6 – 10 minutes and the fish is ready when the opaque white flesh can be easily separated from the bones. Snoek freezes exceptionally well so it’s a good idea to stock your freezer for those summer braais – defrost the fish slowly in the refrigerator or keep its texture before cooking.

Cape Wine Braai Masters is a recipe book filled with braai ideas sourced from leading wine farms.

How to braai a snoek.

 

Snoek on the coals
Snoek is such a flavourful fish that it tastes best with a simple basting sauce, but a mixture of butter, lemon juice and apricot jam is also popular in the Cape.
Basting sauce:
100ml white wine
100ml olive or canola oil
50ml lemon juice

Mix ingredients together in a screwcap wine bottle – makes enough to baste two snoek. Pierce holes in the lid and splash liberally over fish while braaing (takes about 6 – 10 minutes)

Sweet potatoes with orange & ginger
Serves 10
2kg sweet potatoes, peeled
2 cups white sugar, caramelised
1 orange
2cm fresh ginger, grated
A few cassia sticks

Slice the sweet potatoes into thick rounds, place them in a casserole dish and pour the caramelised sugar over them. Squeeze the juice of the orange over, then add the squeezed orange, grated ginger and cassia sticks to the dish. Bake in the oven at 180˚C for about 60 minutes. Turn twice in the first half-hour.

Wine recommendation: Try Kanonkop’s second label Kadette, a full-bodied blend of Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

This recipe is an excerpt from Cape Wine Braai Masters, available in leading book stores from end November at a suggested retail price of R225.