Snoek drying on the Fence

The northwestern corner of Ganzekraal has a barbed wire fence, an ideal place to dry out snoek. Everything starts with plankton being in abundance, this will bring on small fish and in turn draw the snoek. Of course man is on top of the food chain and hundreds of snoek are caught, cleaned, then stored under layers of salt for two to three days. Afterwards the salt is rinsed off and the fish are brought here to this high spot to dry in the sun and wind. In times when the West Coast is beaten by storms the snoek will keep in or out of a fridge and will be used to prepare smoorsnoek, a braised fish stew served with rice. Surprisingly, it is a lovely white stew in spite of the inedible colours seen when they are displayed in their long rows that seem to stretch all the way to Table Mountain.