Day 31

Air / Water temperature: 34°C (28°C at night) / 26°C

Wind direction / Bft: Northwest / 2-3

Area: PIPERIS OCEANUS (changing currents) – Nautical chart showing the route

Combuse: Large hamour fish (about 1.3 kg) remove intestines, fillet and pull off the skin. In a small pan mix 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion, 1 tablespoon minced ginger, 1 small tablespoon minced garlic, 1 small teaspoon Shichimi, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon mirin, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 4 tablespoons water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes. Stop the heat, add 1 tablespoon light miso and stir until it has dissolved. Pass the sauce through a fine meshed sieve. Sprinkle very little pepper and salt on the fillets, fry in 1 tablespoon canola oil for 3 minutes per side. Serve with a few drops of the gently warmed sauce. (More recipes from the Chief cook of «PS Narina»)

When something knocks into the rump of our boat, generally it is a piece of wood, old gym shoes or bottles. In these peculiar waters, though, it often happens to be the chopped-off feet of chickens and hens that knock into the side of the boat – though the word «knock» sounds far too hard; rather, it is a soft sound, like that of something falling into a marsh, a mildly disrespectful smacking kiss. I cannot explain the presence of chicken-feet in these waters. I know for sure that there are some cultures in which chicken-feet are usually fed to dogs – and others in which they are relished as a delicacy. Here, however, we apparently have a civilisation that chucks chicken-feet into the sea. Question is, why? It can be that there is a chicken factory in the vicinity that simply throws chicken-feet into the water after the birds are slaughtered – quite like the rest of the garbage that ends up in the ocean.  Or, does someone around here believe that the fish in the region will get fatter if they are fed on chicken-feet?  Must we imagine how wheelbarrows filled with claws will be trundled along the beach and then tipped into the sea? Perhaps the chicken-feet are used in fish traps, into which fish or crabs are enticed by their smell. Or, is everything merely a coincidence: Has a ship carrying a cargo of chicken-feet capsized somewhere in these waters? It is also possible that the chicken-feet were released into the sea in an ethnic ritual – as a sacrificial offering for a local deity. But I can think of no deity that likes to stand especially on chicken-feet. But who knows. Perhaps it involves a form of magic – it’s well possible that one attaches a bad omen to the chicken-feet and then, together with the claws, catapults the stuff into the ocean. Perhaps it brings luck when chicken-claws are chucked into the ocean – or, it is a love cry: «Marry me! For your sake I have catapulted a hundred chicken-feet into the ocean today!»

One does not need to know everything. That we have not endowed angels today with chicken-feet owes thanks to the fortunate fact that claws have no teeth.

Next day (32)

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