I thawed out 7 fishes. My body craved something warm.  Fish soup had been on my mind. Should I make fish soup or fish broth? I was undecided but was in dire need of that warmth navigating through my soul. On the other hand, my King had been craving escovitch fish. He had been bribing me for a while.
“I’ll pay you right now, if you make it” he says.
I laughed.
My love for him compelled me to honor him and his request. A mother’s love never ceases, even when they become adults.

I washed and scaled the fishes. It’s a habit. Sometimes the fish monger misses some of the scales, so I do my best to complete their task, in order to create a pleasant eating experience for my loved ones. I prefer my fishes with simple ingredients because I want to savor the pure flavors of the ocean. I prepared a blend of sea salt and cayenne pepper and sprinkled it on the outside and inside the cavity of the fishes. Ok, now let that soak a bit while I prep the ingredients for the escovitch vinaigrette. Red wine vinegar is tangy, so that’s gonna kick it up a notch. Okras always compliments seafood and I love its crunchiness, so that’s going in too. And who doesn’t like tangy cucumbers?

Just when I thought I was done with frying the fishes and finessing the escovitch vinaigrette, the child asked, “Aren’t you gonna fry dumplings mom?”
“But I thought you said you were gonna go buy some hard dough bread?” (It’s a Jamaican thing)
“Well not if your going to make fried dumplings.”
Being the loving mother that I am, I quickly combined flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder and lots of butter, kneaded the dumplings and fried them off in some coconut oil.
OMG! So glad I did. I could eat those dumplings all by themselves! They were so darn good!
And that vinaigrette…so spicy and tangy and amazingly d’luscious.
Now the fishes; I devoured those: head and all.
Do you have any idea how d’luscious fish head is?