So…imagine that you open your inbox and among the black colored unread emails you notice one titled First we surf and then we eat. “What an totally awesome idea!”, were the first thoughts that crossed my mind. Who on Earth is inviting me to do that :)… you can guess which email I’ve opened first? Well, the email was not exactly an invitation for a surf and dinner but an announcement about the new book that was just released which is titled First We Surf Then We Eat.
The book was written by Jim Kempton, a lifelong surfer, cook, and writer. A list of his former jobs reads like some other surfers bucket list. He’s been the editor and publisher of Surfer magazine, the director of Quiksilver’s Crossing Project, a boat that searched the world for the best surf breaks; the director of media
for Billabong… and the owner of the former Margarita’s Village, an award-winning regional Mexican restaurant in San Clemente, California. So with a life full of surf travels and good food, Jim might be just the perfect man to write a book like this.
A travel, surf adventure First We Surf Then We Eat cookbook features 90 recipes from ten different surf regions that Jim frequented: Hawaii, Indonesia, France, Caribbean, Morocco, Peru, Mexico, California, South Pacific, & Central America. Each chapter has short stories about adventures, surf, restaurants, and markets in the region followed by a recipe. From noodles with vegetables to sashimi, from Basque omelette to tuna steaks, from fig jam pizza to seven vegetable tagine (damn, I just broke my tagine few months ago), from poke bowls to enchiladas, from punch rum cocktail to gado gado (you know how everyone that comes to Indo first orders gado gado because it has a weird name :)?) and citrus shrimp & salmon ceviche. Just listing all these makes me hungry. And it takes me back to places in the book that I have already visited and surfed.
You know how a smell, a taste, an image can take you back to a place that you love? How for instance a cold Bintang is not just a beer, but something connected to that warm water surfed out, sun burned feeling after a day of epic waves somewhere in the Indonesia? Now you can get a book full of tickets to those places. Make a couscous and baaam, you are sitting on the rocks at Anchor point watching the right point go off. Btw, Jim surfed Killers when Anchor point was almost not jet discovered.
Jim was also kind enough to let me share some of his stories and recipes with you.
From the First We Surf Then We Eat
Surfing Submarines and Nuclear Typhoons
Guam* was a fine place to learn surfing and a problematic site for typhoons. Starting in the silt-laden rivermouth at Talafofo Bay that resembled Waikiki, we slowly graduated to reef passes that looked more like Ala Moana. Our favorite lineup – in Merizo Bay – broke over a sunken Japanese submarine, a casualty of World War II.
As twelve-year-olds on a remote island, the dog-eared pages of Surfer Magazine were our only connection to the surfing world. We would send off money orders to PO Box 1028, Surfers famous Dana Point address, and watch grainy 8-millimeter films of Greg Noll at Waimea Bay – and dream on.
We incessantly scanned the navel weather maps that tracked the typhoons we hoped would come our way, bringing waves for days. Then one November the eye of one such monster took an unexpected right-angle turn and passed directly over our little island. It left everything in its wake – including the Quonset hut home I’d grown up in – a mass of twisted wreckage.
No one knew the actual maximum velocity of Karen’s wrath – all measuring devices were destroyed by the magnitude of the event. Wind gusts over the southern tip of Guam peaked at an estimated 185 mph during the height of the storm. The U.S. Navy official report described the damage as “equal to an indirect hit from a nuclear bomb.”
*Jim was born and spent his childhood in Guam
Chamorro Beef Tinaktak With Finadene Dipping Sauce
SERVES 6
INGREDIENTS
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
5 garlic cloves minced
1⁄2 Large onion halved, then sliced in ¼ inch slices 2 inch lengths
1 can coconut milk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cups cherry tomatoes cut in half
2 cups long or green beans cut in 2 inch lengths
1 cup fresh corn kernels
2 lbs. rib-eye steak, sliced very thin
Salt and Pepper to taste
6 teaspoons grated fresh coconut
INSTRUCTIONS
In a hot pot, sauté onions 2-3 minutes.
Add garlic sauté for 1 minute more
Add beef, cook until brown. Drain excess liquid
Add 1 cup tomatoes, corn and green beans, cook until tender.
Add coconut milk, simmer for 5 minutes
Add 2nd cup tomatoes, and lemon juice
Season to taste
Ground beef is often substituted for steak by my Guamanian friends.
For the Finadene:
1 Cup soy sauce.
Juice of 1 lemon.
1⁄2 med onion sliced thin.
Chili peppers to taste.
Handful of cherry tomatoes cut in half.
Place in a bowl and use for dipping.
Discovering a Gold Field of Waves
The discovery of the Mentawai island chain in the northern reaches of the Indian Ocean was a revelation in surf history. Working on a salvage boat Australian surfer Martin Daly had observed an unusual number of abandoned wrecks strewn across this almost unknown archipelago.
The reason? Late night swells would often surprise unsuspecting sailing yachts anchored on reefs. Coupled with falling tide a strong sudden surge could strand a boat on the reef with a broken back. Daily quickly deduced the potential upside: a multitude of excellent surf breaks.
A born adventurer, entrepreneur, and maverick, Martin’s favorite hero was Shackleton, whose epic sailing adventures in Antarctica are the stuff of legend. Dreaming big, Martin eventually made a deal, bought the boat he’d once crewed on, and spent a few years with friends working salvage and surfing these islands by themselves. They took a blood oath to keep it secret.
But in 1992, when Martin Daly took 2-time World Champ Tom Carroll and big wave legend Ross Clarke Jones and scored an epic session of exceptional surf, the cat was out of the bag. Within months photos appeared in surf magazines and before long Martin had more requests from surfers – and for more money than he could ever make toiling at the salvage business.
The result opened a whole new chapter in surf travel: the charter surf trip. Bruce Raymond, an ex-professional surfer who was then an executive of Quiksilver Australia, came up with a visionary concept: travel the world exploring for undiscovered waves. He hired Martin to captain the vessel. The Crossing Project was born. Surf travel would never be the same.
Later Raymond hired me to organize the trips and visitors as the director of Crossing North America. That meant surf, travel and global adventure. Once again I scored the job of my dreams.
Terung Lodeh – Sweet and Spice Prawn and Eggplant Soup
Here is a spectacular soup which is Javanese in origin but holds its own among the great soups of the world.
SERVES 6
INGREDIENTS
For the broth:
1 white onion, sliced
4 tablespoons slivered garlic
¼ cup ginger, sliced thin julienne
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup mushrooms minced
2 cups chicken stock
4 green onions, sliced
1 cup water
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon chili sauce
½ cup sweet white wine
For the shrimp and eggplant:
500g long purple eggplants
150g shrimp (peeled)
6 tbsp oil
1 small white onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 red chilies (sliced)
¼ cup coconut cream
1 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
INSTRUCTIONS
For the broth:
In a deep pan heat oil and stir fry onions for 3 to 4 minutes until golden
Add garlic and cook for a minute more
Add soy sauce, then ginger, stirring constantly
Pour in chicken stock
Add cilantro, green onions and wine, continue to stir
Let simmer on very low heat
For the shrimp and eggplant:
Quarter the egg plants lengthwise and cut into 3 inch sticks.
Sprinkle eggplants with a pinch of salt.
Stir-fry the eggplants with oil, browning on all sides.
Remove from pan and drain.
Sauté the shrimps with 1 tbsp of oil until half cooked, about 2 minutes. Set aside.
Sauté onion and garlic with remaining oil until golden. Add cherry tomatoes, cook 1 minutes more.
Add chilies, coconut milk and water bring to boil. Heat until oil separates.
Add soy sauce, salt to taste.
Add fried eggplants. Cook over low heat until flavors combine.
Transfer prawns and the eggplant mixture to broth and stir, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and serve in shallow bowls.
First We Surf Then We Eat is full of colorful images from either epic surf moments or tasty food plates. It’s a perfect gift for any surfer and food lover. You can get it at most fine surf shops, Barnes & Noble and other fine bookstores and on Amazon.