Seafood Casseroles

When my father can smell haddock being cooked in salty water he gets nostalgic. I get nauseated. In the old days (when I was a little girl) it was quite normal to cook fish for about 30 minutes and usually there was a big saucepan, filled with water and potatoes and it cooked until the potatoes were ready and the fish was flaky. This is the method my mother used for cooking fish and her mother before her and so on. In those days it was unheard of to bake fish in the oven (at least in my family). To this day, the smell of boiled haddock makes my stomach churn. Amazingly it is also the only thing my daughter spitted out when I was weaning her (not that she knew how I felt about cooked haddock). She preferred eating paper to haddock. Incidentally It was also the only thing (and popcorn) that physically made me sick during my pregnancy. Although I can not eat haddock or cod (I really dislike the taste of both) I love other types of fish such as salmon (freshly caught from the river at my parent's summer cottage), trout (reared in the wilderness of my parents rented lake in the mountains), halibut, plaice, monkfish to name a few. I also love lobster (my mother in law makes the best lobster soup in the world and she is the master of baked fish!!).

Anyway, I know now, being all grown up, that you are not supposed to cook fish in water for 30 minutes or longer. I know that you need to cook the fish as little as possible and that it is very easy to overcook it. I never, ever fry fish (or any food for that matter) and I prefer baking it in the oven with some vegetables or a lovely sauce, sprinkled with cheese and perhaps olives. There are loads of different ideas to try and being Icelandic there is always fresh fish available...the downside though is that it's expensive, being classified as gourmet food!

Mexican Style Haddock

Now, Mexican and Haddock might not be two words you would expect to see in the same sentence but to be honest this is a perfect match.

Swahili Style Halibut with Peanut Sauce

There is a strong Swahili influence in this recipe because by the Indian Ocean (especially in Kenya) you will find ingredients such as ginger, garlic, onion, tomatoes, peppers and fish.