Isn't it amazing how,  through world trade, we have made our Sunday lunches more interesting.
Salt cod was on the menu today and to think such a simple fish was exported all over the world, salted and dried.
I first started cooking salt cod in France. We used cheeks for a gratin with onions and parsley and salted cod fillet for a rich, warm, garlic scented puree.
Served with garlic rubbed croutons it just needs a bottle of chilled rose for company.
Soaked overnight, poached and flaked it is mixed with warm baked potato flesh, hot fruity olive oil and garlic cream.  A kitchen aid mixer makes light work of this, I used to do it by hand!
Like a lot of dishes, so simple, yet when done well, it really is amazing.
So perhaps we have boats to thank for our Sunday lunches and, by the way, Saturday night takeaways.
It was only when South America started exporting chillies did Indian and Thai food become the dishes that we know today.
So it was my first Sunday at East Lodge for a couple of weeks and the food still looks great, although, I think I need to work on some of the main courses.
Not the produce or portion size, I wouldn't dare!
Just the presentation, it keeps me on my toes, thats all.
And finally why do Supermarkets insist on telling us to overcook our Sunday lunch?
I bought a lovely chicken this afternoon and had I have listened to the cooking times it would have been ruined. Eighty minutes it said, I cut thirty off that, rested it, carved it and it was perfect!
So anyway, the picture is of the salt cod.
A nod to the joy of living in one big global food market!
Oh and its a prototype of a new venison dish with crispy pork fat, wood sorrel and sour dough.

Trust me,, it is!