Letter to Julia 20130313

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

I grilled a fish yesterday.  Oh, it's not a big deal: they were selling those huge hardtail scads at the night market on Monday, so I always get one whenever I can.  They don't show up at the market in that size all that often, so I buy one whenever they do.  But the process of grilling a fish is sooo involved, and time consuming.  I had to get the stuffing done the night before, otherwise I wouldn't be able to eat the fish until after the afternoon prayer the next day.  So, I had the peel 2 coconuts, take them to be grated, borrow my Mom's blender to blend the grated coconut, then cook up the stuffing, which had onions, garlic, lemongrass, and chilli paste.  While that was cooking, I gutted and filleted the fish from the inside without breaking the skin, so I could stuff the fish like a sausage.  I put them in the cooler for the next day.  The next day, I had to buy more charcoal, and I stopped by the day market to buy some beef for steak at the same time.  There were a couple of ingredients I forgot yesterday like limes and cilantro, so I picked those up as well.

It seems like almost a religious experience grilling my fish, huh?  Praise Allah!  A costly one at that, and just for one fish.  When I was grilling it, the atmosphere became silent: my parents stayed quietly in their bedroom, and there wasn't a cat or a bird in sight.  There were only a couple of ants running around at top speed.  Oh, the fish tasted good.  You want some?  I have some leftover in the cooler.  Tastes better hot.  Next, I have to do some ironing.  Oh Julia, I HATE ironing!  Can I please go to work in an unironed shirt?  Please?