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The night raid to Billingsgate.
This entry was posted in All things food, Europe, London, UK and tagged Billingsgate, Billingsgate Market, Blitz, Canada Square, Canary Wharf, Chip shop, City of London constabulary, Cockney, Del Boy, Docklands, East End, Eels, England, Fish, Fish Market, Green Park, India, Kent, Lent, Lobster, London, Luftwaffe, Market, Night, Night Tube, Salmon, Sea Bass, Snapper, Thames, Tilapia, Trout, Tube, Tuna, UK. Bookmark the permalink.
One of your best. Really enjoyable. Loved that!
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Thanks a lot Varasc! 🙂
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What an adventure, Fabrizio. And you didn’t even need to be crammed in a plane for 10 hours to experience it. Treasures can sometimes be found in our own backyard. A genuine, non-hipster fish market…what a delight for the senses. The Kevs of the world add so much character to an office. Too bad so many of them are close to retirement. But I think you may become a Kev one day, entertaining the younger colleagues with your tales, but hopefully without the actual war stories!
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Hi Julie, thanks for coming along on the… Jubilee Line ride! 🙂 It was indeed a delight, and that fish is just great. Thanks for the idea, looking forward to become a Kev, even though by the time I get close to retirement it’ll be 2089…
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Ohh, you conveyed, you conveyed, you always do, it’s just that not all friends are for everything. I loved it. As for the fish, it seems an orata to me, which in Slovenian is orada, whereas in English f*cked if I know. 😀 Buon appetito!
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Hi Manja, thanks for the help on the fish, unfortunately it’s not an orata/sea bream. No scales, has a very long lower fin, and some teeth like those of a parrot fish. The mystery continues!
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“The early bird catches the worm” or as we here in Indonesia say “Wake up early or your fortune will be picked by chickens”. While birds have established themselves as morning creatures, it’s the fish that make people wake up in the wee hours in the morning to go to the market. I always enjoy reading this kind ‘discovery’ in one’s own backyard. Well done, Fabrizio!
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Thanks a lot Bama! Love your saying, how is it written in Indonesian?
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“Bangun pagi biar rezekinya enggak dipatok ayam”. It’s written in casual Indonesian though, not a formal one.
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Love it! Thanks Bama, I’ve used this today in a meeting. Obviously in English, but it made some impression!
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Whoa! I wish I were in that meeting!
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Well, unless you want to see some utter dimwits, you wouldn’t! 🙂
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Once again you demonstrate how storytelling should be done – I wish I had your skills. And as for the fish market, I guess it’s like getting up before dawn to capture a sunrise. Probably worth doing, most folks don’t, but with a little luck you get a big payoff.
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Hi Dave, you’re way too kind. Indeed, it’s not something I’d do every other day but it was good nonetheless!
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Now that’s what a fish story should be like! I have to admit to some surprise, though, that an island nation does not have better fish for sale in retail markets. Even in my tiny inland town outside Chicago, we had access to beautiful, fresh fish – both fileted and whole.
Now, since I took that last question literally, thinking I was being asked to bestow a name upon the sea creature, I would like to call him Fishy McFishface in keeping with your countrymen’s internet winner for the name of a polar research ship. I still laugh when I think about Boaty McBoatface!
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Yeah, it’s incredible, right? But apparently very few want to cook fish, know how to do it (but for frying it) or have the time to. Sad. Good shout for Fishy McFish Face! By the way, Boaty isn’t the only one (even though those killjoys decided not to call her like that): Doncaster’s new gritters are now called Gritsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Anti-Slip Machiney and David Plowie.
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The reward was definitely worth the effort. I’m sure your taste buds appreciated the trip out there. There’s more to seafood than battered fish!
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100% agree! Thanks a lot for stopping by! 🙂
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Loved reading this – your writing is so inspiring!! Funny thing, I always thought you could get anything in London. More than that though, I’m surprised to find that the city does actually sleep! Those tube shots are eery! 🙂
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Hi there, TSMS, thank you so much for reading and for the kind words. I, too, thought everything was available here, but it seems that taste tends to be very homogeneous, or so it seems. The Night Tube can be quiet, especially if you’re riding into town towards the end of the night, as I was doing.
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They don’t clean the fish in the market? Weird. In street markets in France they do. After weighing of course.
Last coupla times I was in London I wondered why despite the overture of Britain to the world the food remained so bland and monotonous. Just about anywhere in the world you can taste any cuisine on every street but not in London. Bizzare.
(Thanks for the story)
😉
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Nope, no cleaning, unless perhaps you asked… still, I’d have filleted it anyway!
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🙂
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