Dinner began with freshly picked and shucked sweet corn. Cooked to peak of perfection by BSK. So good that HG ate it without benefit of butter or salt. Then, the family proceeded to a an epic seafood meal prepared by Exquisite Maiko. EM picked up just caught mackerel — given away gratis by the fishermen — at the nearby Prince Edward Island port of Naufrage and hake filets at By the Bay Fish Mart in the village of St. Peters. After filleting the fish, EM deep fried the mackerel skeletons into a salty crisp that was dipped in Kewpie Mayonnaise (Japanese brand) sprinkled with cayenne. EM called this “a snack” and it went beautifully with HG’s Bloody Mary. This was followed by two raw mackerel dishes: A tataki of mackerel mixed with ginger, scallions, soy sauce and nori. Marinated mackerel served with a salty, preserved plum sauce. This is better than any variant of pickled herring. Main dish was pan fried hake and mackerel served room temperature over a colorful julienne of vegetables including onions, cabbage, carrots, zucchini and more. Masterful. This was accompanied by a bowl of pickled watercress topped with bonito flakes. The meal featured local ingredients that shone when encountering EM’s skills. (The watercress came from the base of a fresh water stream that empties into the ocean near HG’s home). Superlatives don’t do EM’s cuisine justice. Sublime might be the best descriptive. Beautiful to look at. A delight to eat.
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