At the moment I am holidays at our shack on Bruny Island. The weather hasn’t been that kind, nor have the fish, so a lot of time has been spent eating and drinking by the fire. Yesterday, feeling like we needed to do some exercise, we went for a walk and a bit of a cook up.
I while ago I scored some mutton birds off my butcher (there are pretty tight restrictions on harvesting them these days, you can’t do it at all in the south of the state). Mutton birds are sea birds that nest in Tasmania in late summer after a massive migration from the northern hemisphere. You either love or hate mutton birds. They are really strong in flavour; I would describe them as duck crossed with anchovies. They also stink when you cook them – my girlfriend only will let me cook them outside. So it seemed fitting that they came with us on our walk to an old mutton birding hut.
Cooking
It was perfect out at the hut. We had the whole beach to ourselves. We lit a fire and chucked on some spuds and threw the birds on the grill. When they were cooked we ate them with shots of vodka (whiskey would be better) – this helped cut through the fattiness of the birds. I got this idea from the way the Swedes eat their surströmming (fermented herring) – just with potatoes and schnapps. I remember it being a pretty good way to eat it but that may have been the schnapps talking. But what I mainly liked is the way they make a bit of a party/event out of eating the herring – they do the same with their freshwater crayfish. It is something that I think we miss out on a bit in Tassie, maybe because we are quite young country? Anyway as you may have gathered by now this is not really a recipe, more of a way to enjoy these birds. Yes I know that sounds pretty wanky and probably is. I promise not to be a tosser in future posts. BTW I got engaged on Saturday.
*fiancee, not girlfriend.
Congratulations! How are you going to be the groom AND the photographer AND the caterer at the wedding? And for the record, I think you must have had way too much schnapps in Sweden. I don’t remember their food being all that flash!
Love your photos and recipes – anything cooked on an open fire and served with shots of alcohol has to be good
. And congrats on the engagement!!
Can’t say I’m a fan of mutton birds but your photos are exquisite. They make me wonder why I’m living in London instead of in a lovely beach house in my homeland!
Congratulations on getting engaged!
I’m a recent reader. No idea how I came across you, but I think I’ll stick around for a while.
Well who could say no to a bloke who can make mutton bird taste and look good! Congratulations. And your photos are amazing.
Thanks all!
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I just found this blog and love the recipes & styling, so I’m glad I had the good timing to congratulate you. Congrats, man.
The photo of the echidna in the sand is amazing!!! Do you sell your photos? I’d love a copy of the echidna!
I reckon they would be great done Confi style ie.cooked very slowly in the oven,then stored in Frig.in their own fat till required,then browned over the coals.As a new resident in Tassie from Queensland,I am looking forward to the next season (April I believe). HORRIE