Fishing with Trout

Frost, Wren and I went to Uwajimaya yesterday as part of our exploration of things Chinese and to restock our cupboards. While there Frost took some pictures and said "Yuck" a lot. I tried to explain that things uncommon to him such as BBQ duck and sea urchin roe are delicacies for some people but the reaction that really surprised me was when he saw the whole fish for sale. In Seattle fish are generally bought in cutlets...

[aside: Wren is asleep in the sling and just coughed, dislodging a large piece of onion from somewhere behind his ear. Someone should invent a bib for baby-wearing women. Wren always has rice and goodies left in his hair when I eat wearing him.]

... and Frost had never seen a small gutted fish. He stared at them in horror, turning away and then looking again as if compelled. He said: "they have big holes in their tummies!" Then paused and asked "Where are their bones?" None of my explanations made any sense to him so I decided to buy a fish. The cheapest and freshest looking was the trout which is how I ended up grilling [broiling in US parlance] an Idaho trout for dinner.

There was a Plan B dinner for Joshua and Frost who, while fascinated, would not eat trout because he is a vegetarian. They had potstickers and I ate the trout with the vegetables.

So, we sit down to eat and Frost is yelling "disgusting, disgusting, its burned, its burned!" as I put the grilled trout down. He is right, it has black blistered skin but its perfectly done. I squeeze lemon on it and say "I wish my mum was here right now". Mum is a great fish lover. "Is that what the fish is saying?" Frost asks. Clearly, he is not cut out for the business of being a carnivore so I explain myself to him and add that he and Josh wouldn't eat my rhubarb crumble either. What's a girl to do with these people?

Finally, I try a ploy to get him to taste it. I say that its a Ninja Warrior Level 3 challenge to eat a piece of trout. He rushes away into the living room as if I am going to chase him with it so I tell him I will shut my eyes. He asks from the living room door, "do I have to eat it?" I answer, "no" but its a challenge. You can come close and just smell it and touch it if you like. I think I have heard somewhere that this kind of thing works to desensitize arachnophobes and am willing him to have a go. I don't know why I am so keen on him trying new things - I guess i want him to not eat meat from principle not from a narrow view of "its not something I have eaten so I won't eat it."

He comes close to look at it. I show him how I eat the cheek out of the trout, that its a tasty piece then I hold out the fork. I shut my eyes and feel a slight tremor on the fork, a shiver on the line. I open my eyes and Frost is chewing open mouthed with a look of triumph.

"It tastes kind of okay and kind of delicious" he announces.
"But I don't want any more."

I have a trout picture I will insert here later but I have so little time in the evenings that I can't start the digital download, import, upload process or I won't have enough sleep.