What do you think of this picture Nedra took? Quite magnificent, isn’t it. The body language says it all. The young women are not too pleased. Even starting at an early age, the young men chose to go fishing, which, unfortunately, had excluded the young women. This is not an uncommon problem. Is there a solution? Probably. Each person has to find his and her own.

Historically and culturally the man, or men, went out into the field, lake or ocean, to find something to kill or catch, and bring home to the family so that they would not starve. Obviously their efforts were welcome. But currently the same acute need does not exist for most of us, and our efforts are not fully appreciated – even when we prepare the bag we laboured with such diligence to acquire. For all of us the historical and cultural need persists for us to be out there still – we wouldn’t be there otherwise. For some of our partners, however, history and culture carry little weight (as the above photograph indicates), and are completely ignored.

But never mind, we have a fish recipe here that is easy to prepare, and delicious, and if you clean up in the kitchen afterwards, it will go a long way toward encouraging your forays onto the water.

I say trout, because that is what we have. You could probably even use carp, if that is what you have. Any fish will do.

Get rid of the bones and skin, and that includes the nasty little side ones that trout persist in carrying around with them. Another nice thing about this recipe is that you need just the one receptacle (I try with diligence be a one-pot cook). The pot in question should be one which you can insert into the oven for cooking.

Pour some yogurt into your pot/oven dish, enough to cover your fish. Squeeze some lemon onto the fish, then some olive oil. Spice and herb your yogurt – with whatever you like, remembering the garlic and tandoori.

And try some cider vinegar, if you have it, or feel you would like to make the effort to acquire it. Drop your fish in, allowing it to absorb the yogurt, herbs and spices. Cover both sides with generous amounts of wheat germ, porridge oats or wheat bran. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, at gas mark 4, or its equivalent, depending upon the fish.

You will henceforth be encouraged to spend time on the water, acquiring such delicious prizes.

WE’RE OFF TO THE GAME FAIR

The CLA Game Fair is almost upon us, and aren’t we glad. We probably have a list of all the things we want to buy. I have to get over to Lure Flash early on, and get some of those flies. I’ve had good success with so many of them. Admittedly I feel a bit guilty about buying them rather than making them myself, although some of those Lure Flash flies are so intricate I’m not sure I could reproduce them. It’s been such a busy time I just haven’t been able to get to the fly tying bench much. And when I have, I discovered that my fingers were out of practice.

I also need a new Intermediate fly line. Actually it’s what I use most, and is most successful. There seems to be a quiet disapproval of anything but a floating line; I guess I’m supposed to feel guilty about that too. So I used a floating line, and didn’t get anything, and switched over to an Intermediate, and did. That has to tell us something. I think it’s expedient to go where the fish are, rather than where they aren’t. Obviously, when the fish are feeding on top, that’s where you need to be.

Telling a friend about the Game Fair, she called it a "Parallel Universe." And it is too. We’re okay; it’s from outside where the problems are, and from where they are inflicted upon us. It’s the urbanites, with their townie values that come storming into the countryside, both literally and figuratively, like Nazi storm troopers, to impose their values on us. They are not our values, and we don’t want them inflicted on us. They have the vote, which they try to use against us. That’s why the Game Fair is important. It is a statement, and we are making it: We are not going to let you get away with it.

The Game Fair is for everybody, as we always say: the wives, the girl friends, the kids, the dogs. And they all enjoy it. Nedra loves it, has been filled with anticipation, making our plans well in advance. Nedra is very much a dog person. So am I, actually. Two bad we don’t have a dog or two. Nedra would like a Lab. I’m not against it, but I tend toward the breeds that are prepared to listen to what you have to say, rather than follow their own agenda – like a German wire-haired pointer, for example. But of course, like so many others, I also veer in the direction of a Springer spaniel, whose agenda is pretty well fixed, and rarely co-exists with yours.

The CLA Game Fair Press Centre has e-mailed us to tell us what is going to be happening at the Fair:

"It’s a complete one-stop-shop for all rural sports and hobbies. There’s advice, debates, contests and competitions. There’s fishing, falconry and ferrets, hounds, horses and holidays, clay pigeon contests and cookery – plus the largest outdoor shopping centre in Europe with nearly 1,000 trade stands…The aim is not just to leave visitors to wander through the Game Fair simply looking at the exhibits and demonstrations. The Game Fair’s message is ‘Come On, Have a Go’…the shooting area offers the most exciting series of competitions, demonstrations and exhibitions to be found anywhere in the country…in fisherman’s village there are events for novices as well as crusty old fishermen, with a chance to actually go fishing in one of Belvoir’s famous lakes."

THE CLA GAME FAIR

BELVOIR CASTLE, GRANTHAM, LEICESTERSHIRE

Friday 24 July – Saturday 26 July

web: www.gamefair.co.uk

Tel: 0845 6122 052

Advanced ticket line: 0844 848 0990

Hotel accommodations: 0845 612 2042

Caravan/camping: 0845 6122 045

FIONA EASTMAN, Director of Marketing and Development: fiona.eastman@cla.org.uk

Marishelle Gibson, Press Officer: marishelle.gibson@cla.org.uk

ASHMERE DAYS

We were delighted to hear that Keith Howman was presented with an OBE for his efforts on behalf of conservation. Our sincerest congratulations, Keith. You deserve it. No doubt, Keith’s wife, Jean, who runs Ashmere Trout Fisheries, also deserves one as well. On what basis? someone (rhetorically) might ask. For anyone who has ever set foot at Ashmere, the answer is obvious. We could probably give a hundred good reasons.

Someone who takes a used-up quarry, virtually devoid of trees, of shrubs, or even some weeds, and turns it into a place of beauty, should qualify. And an additional award should be given for making four lakes, and then stocking them with trout, and letting people come here to fish with a fly. And where is all this happening? Not deep into the countryside, remote and removed from the unpleasantness of the big city, but in what is hardly more than suburban London. When you are here, you are a million miles away. Jean is always planting, making things better, ever more pleasant. You wouldn’t think it possible, since beauty already surrounds you on all sides. But there is Jean, often on her tractor, insuring that the grass does not grow high.

More than once, having taken my limit of fish, but reluctant to leave, I would row around the lake, just for the pleasure of being there. And I would sing (confident that no one was close enough to hear me).

Here, besides this place being a sanctuary for people, it is a sanctuary for the flowers that Nature plants, and the wildlife that flourishes. A pair of black swans suddenly appeared last winter, seemingly from out of nowhere. They liked it too, and stayed. An obviously devoted couple, they were not overly social, and drove off the Canada geese, and the white swan double act who had done the driving off previously. Now the white swans were refugees themselves, having had to re-establish themselves on another lake. As a matter of fact, just last week, as I was getting into my boat, I looked up, and there was Mum white swan, with six beautiful cuddly little kids that she obviously wanted me to see, so close I could have reached out and touched them. I always had the feeling that they know us, know who we are, and like to keep in touch.

And Jean Howman has done all of this. This is no easy task; Mother Nature does unpleasant things sometimes, like making the water hit 80 degrees, and the trout turn over and die. Jean takes it in her stride, carries on anyway. We thank our lucky stars that she has come down from Scotland to make England a better place. The awards we bestow are our eternal gratitude.

GOING ALONG TO THE IDEAL HOME SHOW
Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London

Nedra and I figured it might be a good idea to go along to the Ideal Home Show to see what we could find out about game cooking, how, and in what to do it. Early on we found ourselves at the Home-tek stand, where the Ainsley Harriott slow cooker range aroused our interest. Nedra’s mother used a slow cooker from time to time, with very satisfactory results, Nedra said. But we ourselves, for no good reason, had never had one.

However, after the enthusiastic words from the Home-tek chap, describing the many virtues of the Ainsley slow-cooker, (he, by the way, was a Yorkshireman, and we all know that when a Yorkshireman says it, it’s true,) we knew we had to have one. The only question was, which of the three sizes would be most suitable for us. It was decided that the middle one, the “Family Slow Cooker,” would suit our needs best. It had a 4.5 litre capacity, variable thermostat, with two heat settings. The crock-pot, in which the cooking is done, is removable, so you can bring it to the table.

Early on we put it to the test – with (our wild) duck casserole. It was better than I could have imagined. We were really delighted. You can also do it with pheasant, which we did, with equal success. It is particularly suitable if the bird has been shot up a bit and is not usable as a whole entity, requiring selective cutting up. Any and all game is fair game for the Ainsley slow cooker. Another nice thing about it is that you can turn it on, leave it, come back at the end of the day, and it’s ready for you. Of course you can do other things besides game, like soup, for example, and it’s big enough to provide eatings for a couple of days.

Home-tek is based in West Yorkshire, in the north of England. Tel. 01924 491 188.

e-mail: sales@hometekinternational.co.uk

We had a look at knives, and stopped by for a sample of wild boar sausages. That was enough to convince us. We bought four packages. Made in Poland, they were exceptionally good, with very little fat. Our only regret was that we didn’t buy eight packages. They also do venison sausages, which, we assume are good too.

By the time we finished, we were really loaded down, but, as they say, not to worry. This was the Ideal Home Show. And sure enough, anticipating our problem, and no doubt that of many visitors, was a stall selling rucksack trolleys. Although we had no doubt encountered them before, there had never been a need, but now it was acute. You could pull it, or you could throw it over your shoulders, and just carry it. We pulled. We just wished the handle was attached better and didn’t always keep coming off.

It had been a very satisfying day, deeply rewarding in every way. We had wild boar sausages that night.

© Sidney Du Broff 2009