Oh and by the way what's up NZ?? Fish is horrible. There is something wrong with this picture.

I am a Kiwi.  An Aucklander.  Proud to be a Kiwi and proud to be an Aucklander.  My home is in the inner city.  It's a cool place.  Great coffee (seriously and it's simply not on a par with any other city.  Melbourne had a nod in but we've been drinking great coffee since 1989 in Millars so Melbourne is a late comer in my opinion for serious down under coffee - i.e. flat whites).

OK I'm getting off track.  Fish.  We are bombarded with TV masterchef or whatever about fish.  Skin on.  Fresh.  Is it available in NZ ( and inner city Auckland?? ) NO.  

What is going on NZ?  The piles and piles of skinned and filleted schnapper, terakihi, gurnard.  The king fish always in "steaks"...  bloody ghastly (try filleting these beauties, and the Hapuka too, same fish type, they are beautiful dense fish and flake like petals that melt when cooked correctly in a thick fillet.  These are completely lost in a "steak"cut.  Salmon is very rich in NZ.  A seriously high fat level and whilst I do enjoy the flavour that comes from fat I find Kiwi salmon a bit too much.  This is personal.  But why don't you fillet the salmon in a decent cut guys?  Why is it all badly filleted and tailed ends galore?  Why so tapering so you can't cut it into a decent piece at home?  Hmmmmm......it quite frankly pisses me off.  I come from a place (NZ)  prized for it's fish and I relish living here in Dubai partly because the seafood so so SO fresh.  I love travelling to Spain because it's so so SO fresh.  And all parts of the fish are used.  I am almost embarrassed.  Seriously.  This is not good.  

And I hate to say it but even at the fish market in Auckland, the fish are not really fresh fresh.   The eyes are slightly cloudy, the skin not super glistening and the gills a bit dim.  Maybe it's a handling issue.  Maybe these gorgeous fish go to a central handling station and then take time to process.  I wish I  could be as proud of NZ fish as I am a Kiwi!

And I haven't even started on this subject ....
it's just a big fat piss off to me.