Saturday 24 December 2016

Oíche nollaig

Oíche nollaig Christmas Eve is, traditionally in Ireland, a day of fasting and contemplation in anticipation of, and preparation for, the blow-out feed of Christmas dinner: ham, chicken, stuffing, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, roast parsnips a la parmigiano, braised red cabbage. In Catholic Ireland 'fasting' means spuds and fish. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Dau.I and Dau.II, my catering daughters, are going to find so that I can fulfill my fasting vows and full-fill my tum too. Here are some ideas, all delicious. As no Irish fish-monger knows Latin, I've given the girls some clues:
Melanogrammus aeglefinus

Gadus morhua

Limanda limanda

Scomber scombrus

Pleuronectes platessa

Leucoraja ocellata
Clues below the fold

After a feed of fish you'll be after needing some noisy exercise. Move over Lord of the Danazis.
For those, Francophones and others, who may not get all the slang and cultural references. 
Captain Haddock from Tintin, [of course]
On the left is a cod-piece, which covers ye coddes old fashioned word for the male genitalia
Dabs are thieves cant for fingerprints
We call altocumulus clouds mackerel skies . . . and mare's tails [cirrus] make big ships have small sails
Plaice, my favourite flat-fish since I was a child, I've matched this with La Place de la Concorde
Skate the common name applies to a wide variety of rays.

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