Enzo Discovers Fresh Fish In Gaeta Harbour

Mum and Enzo wait

We make absolutely no secret or excuses for the fact that Enzo loves his fish - particularly his shell fish.  So when he was told over a Sunday morning coffee with a bunch of the boys that the fresh fish comes into Gaeta at 5, he wasted no time in telling us all about it.  Of course the only problem Mum and I could see, is that he wasn't too sure whether it was 5 in the morning or 5 in the evening.

From Paradise we can see the whole bay encompassing Gaeta and Formia.  The comings and goings of the ships and boats is a fascination one only because we have little to no understanding of nautical movements.  However, the delight of seeing the little boats make their way into the Mediterranean Sea by day and by night has not waned yet, especially in the evenings when you can see their twinkling lights dotted across the water, and the light house wafting it's bright light upon the bay to help them in their endeavours.

Try as he might, it is completely impossible for Enzo to leave the house quietly due in most part to a very excited Daisy.  So as he left the house at 4 am one morning, Mum and I both knew where he was heading.  With a much quieter house and a cup of tea we made our way back to our beds.

At around 6 am Enzo was back home and surprisingly empty-handed.  Seems that 5 meant 5 pm ...

Old Gaeta town

A week went by and on one of our more quiet days, we decided to take a wander around the streets of Gaeta and stop for lunch in one of the restaurants tucked away there.  Mum asked Enzo if there was anything on the menu that didn't have fish and he simply replied that we were in Gaeta where there is plenty of fresh fish, so why on earth would you even consider the possibility of a meat dish.  With that she promptly ordered a pork chop!  Enzo and I ordered something fishie:

A plate of shell fish and pasta: Enzo Heaven!

(Our fish recipes)

Over our meal we reminded Enzo that perhaps the fishing boats would be coming in later and perhaps he could take a look-see.  Well, his face lit up and he could wait to mop up all that olive oil with the last chunk of bread at the table. 

We started to drive along the shoreline and in no time at all Enzo was complaining about the Italian habit of double parking.  There insued a discussion about how Enzo will be dealing with them when he becomes the Mayor, then suddenly there was a great deal of excitement in the car as Enzo, pointing towards a sky full of seagulls,  spotted the reason for the double parking.  The fishing boats were coming in.  Time to find an illegal parking spot.

We double-parked next to a vegetable vender who was obviously taking advantage of the crowds gathering for their fresh fish.  Enzo wasted no time trying to discover how much a tray of shrimp would cost.  Unfortunately there was no one to ask since the people were bidding on this tray and that.  Mum and I expected to be there for a while and enjoyed the sights and sounds of real Italy. 

Mum and Enzo examine the catch

It was clear that not all the boats arrive at the same time but that when they do, there is a flurry of activity as each crew works as quickly as they can to sort their catch in their effort to get the best price.  The daily catch is being sorted into white polystyrene trays which are then handed down over the side to an awaiting rowing boat.  The rowing boat then brings the catch to shore.  As each rowing boat arrives at the edge of the water, the crowd moves slowly from one to the other like a silent wave.  Unusually, everyone remains quiet.  This is because a lot of the negotiating is being done with the slightest hand or facial movement something that is obviously being lost on Enzo who in no time flat is walking towards us with a plastic bag sagging from it's contents. 

A man carrying a tray of spikey sea snails passes us by en route home to evidently proudly present them to his wife.  Apparently they only cost him 1 euro!  I look at Mum who is looking back at me with a smile but a worried look in her eye as she explains to Enzo that it's been some time since she ate sea snails.  She glanced down as Enzo's plastic bag and it was then that we discovered what was on the menu for dinner tonight.  "They only cost me 8 euros!" Enzo announces as he prizes the bag apart to show us his shrimp. 

With a sigh of relief we pile back into our illegally parked car and head off home to look forward to whatever it is that Enzo turns his bag of shrimp into.

I will take this opportunity to warn anyone who might be looking forward to eating Enzo delightful meals, that for whatever reason,they do take a great deal of time to reach the table.  This being said, we always have some snacks.  I suspect you're wondering why I don't know what takes so long - he keeps the kitchen door shut and it was only by chance that we managed to get this photograph:

Finally Enzo is directing us from behind the closed kitchen door to start laying the table.  White wine, warm bread, napkins (and plenty of them) and dinner is served.  You too can enjoy Enzo's shrimp dish with his recipe HERE.  They were very tasty and required little to no seasoning.  Buon appetitto! 

"Enzo! Recipe! .... Enzo!" Where's he gone?? Well it is 4.30 in the afternoon ... guess fish is on the menu again tonight then. But as we wait for Enzo to come back and give us the recipe I can try and do my best to guess what he did with those shrimp judging by the evidence he left in the kitchen.  You will need:

1. The key to the whole dish is evidently NOT (and I mean most definately NOT) to turn on the kitchen fan or to open any doors or windows while grilling, frying, broiling or baking and you will eventually arrive at this:

"ENZO!!"