Making Food Edible

The last two weekends I've been fortunate enough to be able to get out of the city for short, overnight camping trips with friends. Last week I made it half way across the state, down many country roads and ended up in a campground completely packed with tents and RV's. I quickly found myself wondering why I had driven so far but when I finally got a nice fire going I realized the answer.

It is easily argued that fire is the oldest trick in the book. I would like to continue that argument by saying that it may also be the most useful in terms of feeding ourselves. I arrived to the campsite in the afternoon and greeted a few old friends from Spokane who now live in Yakima. Lucky for me they had been sitting by the lake all day and had caught a decent sized rainbow trout, gutted it, and put it on ice so that it would be ready when I arrived. A few days before I had read the section in Pollan's book where he helped with the chicken processing and since I have never killed a chicken, I related it to killing the only food products I have ever killed, fish. On several occasions as a teenager I'd been a proud fish executioner with several weapons including a knife and my favorite, a mini, Mariners baseball bat. It's been along time since I've taken this kind of responsibility for the meat I eat so on the drive up there I was quite excited about somewhat localizing my food chain.

Since they had already taken that responsibility I decided the least I could do was cook it for them. I had done my research and since I rarely like any kind of fish I knew I had to do it right. To combat the fishy flavor I had spent some time finding a recipe that included several strong, citrus flavors. When I picked up the fish to rub the mixture in I was greeted by one of the worst smells ever (to me fish often smell worse than a dumpster) but once it had been rubbed down it my appetite began to return. We slapped the fish over the open, wood fire and like magic a meal I normally would cringe at became a meal I will remember for some time.

From: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1717,158187-242192,00.html

GRILLED RAINBOW TROUT

1 lb. fresh rainbow trout fillet Juice of 1/2 lemon 2 tsp. olive oil Salt Black pepper Paprika 1 clove garlic, finely minced 1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves 1 lemon, cut into wedges 1 lime, cut into wedges Prepare coals, preferably mesquite. Arrange trout fillet on a sheet of foil. Drizzle with lemon and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic and thyme. Grill over hot coals about 8 minutes or until fish flakes easily when pricked with a fork. Serve with plenty of fresh lemon and lime wedges. Makes 4 servings.