THE POOR BLOODY YABBIE!

Who would have believed that the common old freshwater yabbie would become an expensive gourmet delicacy, exported around the world?

Catching yabbies with a piece of meat on a bit of string was once a favourite pastime of most Australian children and whilst they were often cooked and eaten for a bit of fun they never featured as part of a normal household's meals.

Sure, they were good to eat..….. but a bloody delicacy?

Ah well, bung on a bit of snob value and the mugs will happily eat anything and just as happily pay silly prices for it. Take the mud crab for example.

It wasn't all that long ago that mud crabs, which were then quite common - and in fact considered a nuisance by fisherman - were rarely eaten in average households and never by the monied gentry. But then cafes became restaurants and since they couldn't charge an arm and a bloody leg for a mixed grill and two eggs, they had to offer something that was different, plentiful, easily obtainable, ignored by the masses (because it was plentiful and easily obtainable) and which could be marketed to mugs as a rare delicacy.

Well the muddie fitted the bill perfectly and now that they're all but extinct they've turned on the poor bloody yabbie!!!

It seems that some restaurants and their so-called gourmet clients are hell-bent on wiping out ALL our bloody wildlife. Because they're now merrily chomping their way through our Yabbies, Crocodiles, Emus, Kangaroos, Witchetty grubs, Brumbys, Possums and even Bogong moths.

Maybe it’s a case of "Save our wildlife - shoot mug gourmets!"

But hopefully, before they gobble up all our birds, animals, aquatic life and reptiles, one of the silly buggers will do us all a favour and declare the cane toad to be a rare delicacy. Don't laugh, cane toads fit the bill perfectly; they're plentiful, ignored by the masses, eaten only by ratbags and the Japanese have found a way to eat poisonous toad fish which is pretty much the same thing.

Today yabbies are big money and they come in all shapes sizes and colours. WA have their marron, just to be different, and there are big red claws, blue claws, giant spiny claws, an elusive little blue and white bloke that lives in the Lamington ranges and parboiled red ones that live in the hot water bore drains. Not only are they farmed and netted from farm dams but - and you're not gonna believe this - people actually PAY to visit farms which promote yabbie catching as a major attraction and where they are TAUGHT how to catch yabbies!

An executive chef who headed the Australian team which won the culinary Olympics says "compared to other crustaceans yabbies have great flavour and can be used in many different ways. They can be steamed and used in seafood buffets, featured in spicy broth, curried and presented chili style, whole split and char-grilled or de-shelled and used in combinations with pastas, salads or stir fries……..the list is endless"

And as a health alternative, yabbies deserve pride of place. They live in an almost pristine pollution-free environment and are virtually fat and cholesterol free while rich in vitamins. To whet your appetite for yabbies here's one of the many award winning recipes we've discovered.

YABBIES SALAD

In coconut and lime dressing with mango and avocado (serves 4)

Ingredients

• 16 pieces Yabbies (50-7- grams)

• 400 grams assorted salad leaves (pickled and washed)

• 2 punnets snow pea sprouts

• 1 small bunch of watercress

• 1 Carrot - medium shredded

• 200 mls coconut milk

• 20 leaves of mint - washed and chopped

• 1 Mango

• 2 Avocados

• Juice of 2 limes

• Freshly milled pepper.

Method

Steam yabbies and refresh. De-shell yabby tails. Make dressing by mixing coconut milk, lime juice, mint and fresh pepper (a little mayonnaise can be added if creamy texture is desired) Season to taste.

Make salad. Mix salad leaves, snow pea sprouts, watercress and finely shredded carrot and dress with coconut dressing, peel mango and avocados and cut into slices.

Arrange mango, avocados and yabby tails on plate, add dressed salad leaves and finish with coconut dressing.

This makes a nice refreshing summer dish served with a bottle of good Chardonnay.

Ingredients:

• 2 dozen big yabbie tails
• 250g margarine
• 2 sticks celery, chopped
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 red or green capsicum sliced
• 1 small tin pineapple
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 tin tomato soup
• 1 dessertspoon soya sauce
• Rice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place margarine in frying pan or camp oven on slow heat. Put celery, onion, capsicum and pineapple into frying pan 10/15 minutes stirring occasionally. Add curry powder and keep stirring so it will not stick or burn.

Cook for about 10 minutes then add the tomato soup to make a good bubbling mixture. Add salt and pepper and soya sauce. If too thick add some pineapple juice.

Put in yabbie tails and let simmer over slow heat for one hour. Serve with boiled rice.

The Kamp C®ook