one of my friends is planning her bachelorette in new england this summer – it reminded me of this post I’d written but never shared as the pandemic flared up again at the end of 2020 and I lost the motivation.
written in september 2020: the end of summer is always bittersweet. it marks the end of mosquito season, the end of blazing humidity – and the beginning of the end of light-flooded, leafy green days, with hints of the muted, grey months to come.
it also marks the beginning of the school year, which felt especially surreal this year, with schools in my area deciding up until the last moment whether they would try to reopen and what the class and extracurricular schedules would look like, and quite a few students deciding to try out virtual homeschooling instead. right after our first week back in-person at work, I took my first vacation since january and headed up to martha’s vineyard for a week.
the last time I’d been to martha’s vineyard, my sister had just barely learned to walk, so we spent our time mainly in town and at the beach. this time around, our stay was marked by outdoor activities – kayaking on sengekontacket pond, jogging to the jaws bridge, biking to oak bluffs and katama and everywhere in between, walking the misty, windswept cliffs of aquinnah. the whole island felt like a step out of time, as if the pandemic – and the last twenty years – had never happened. the half-light of the early morning, as I stood in the crisp new england air watching the sun rise over the glassy water of the pond, I had the strange feeling that if I turned around, I’d once again see my sister taking uncertain baby steps in the grass.
up until that moment, I had never understood why a person would want to visit the same place over and over when there is so much to see in the world. but I guess it’s for the same reason that monet painted the same beloved scenes over and over again – the location, in its familiar sameness, becomes dear. it leads one to remember the past as if it were yesterday. and through observing the surroundings – the growth of a copse of trees, the slight changes in the colors of each sunset, the sea under clear blue skies one day and scudding dark clouds the next – it allows the gauging the gentle changes within.
we also sated ourselves on seafood that week, including a tuna tartare that we made out of a false albacore we reeled in off the coast of chappaquiddick. honestly, I had low expectations for a pandemic vacation, but what a gift it turned out to be. this curry fish pie captures some of the delicate decadence of what I’ll always remember as a very special time.
places I loved
backdoor donuts | massachusetts, home of dunkin donuts, is undeniably a doughnut state. backdoor donuts does its home state proud – everything was great, but the real standouts for us were the boston creme donut, the buttermilk glazed donut, and the apple fritter.
port hunter | we didn’t dine out much this vacation, but we sure were glad we went to port hunter. at first glace, the menu looked underwhelming, but the almond coconut-crusted whole fish with sweet chili sauce and kale was outstanding, the drinks were a little tropical and really well-mixed, and the service was fun and attentive.
the net result | outstanding seafood, both raw and prepared – we wanted to go back and try more things, but ran out of time. definitely high on the “revisit” list.
edgartown meat & fish market | within easy biking distance of where we were staying, we got incredibly tender, thick cuts of pork chops and steak, really fantastic wines and beers, and great breakfast pastries here over the course of several visits.
menemsha + larsen’s fish market | get the clam chowder from menemsha fish market and the lobster bisque from larsen’s. apparently, the two markets are owned by the same family, but for some reason, larsen’s lobster rolls were much better than menemsha’s the day we went.
rags | we all packed too light for the brisk new england evenings and rags came through with cute, well-priced sweaters and light jackets. the store selection is well-curated, even if staff were not particularly friendly.
makes one 9-inch pan
40mL whole milk
40mL heavy cream
1 garlic clove, lightly crushed
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1 small onion, studded with 4 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp smoked hot paprika
750g floury potatoes, peeled and diced
75g unsalted butter
2 egg yolks
pie filling
200g spinach leaves
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 leek, thinly sliced
2 sticks celery, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 heaped tbsp curry powder
1 large pinch saffron
300mL double cream
2 handfuls grated mature cheddar or parmesan
juice of 1 lemon
1 large handful chopped coriander
450g fillet cod or other white fish, skinned and pin-boned
200g peeled raw prawns, deveined
2 hard-boiled eggs
salt & pepper
ravinder bhogal. jikoni. london: bloomsbury publishing, 2020.
2 preheat oven to 400ºF (200ºC) – 350ºF or 180ºC if using convection.
3 bring large saucepan of salted water to a boil, add potatoes and cook until tender. steam spinach in colander above pan of potatoes until wilted, then allow to cool slightly and squeeze out any excess moisture. chop roughly.
4 drain and mash potatoes until smooth and lump-free. beat in butter and egg yolks. strain infused milk and cream, discarding solids, then slowly pour into mash and combine thoroughly.
filling|1 heat oil in frying pan over low-medium heat. add onion, leek, and celery and cook for further 30 seconds, then pour in cream and bring to a boil. remove from heat and stirin cheese, lemon juice, coriander, and salt and pepper to taste.
assembly|1 put spinach, fish, prawn, and eggs into an oven-safe baking dish and pour sauce on top.
2 top with mashed potatoes and bake for 30 minutes, until bubbling and golden on top. serve at once.
fort juniper 