More fish in the sea

Yesterday was a landmark. I finally finished and installed a job which had been dragging on for about a year. From almost being thrown in a skip to being placed on a marble plinth (also made by me) in a very prominent position in the client's house. Very nerve-wracking. What if they didn't like it?

Even though the figure sculpture is plaster of Paris and the marble plinth is hollow, it still weighs over a quarter of a ton, so the risk of accidental damage was very high. Also nerve-wracking.

So now I have another project in the C.V. which I cannot show anyone. On the positive side, I begin the first job for a new client next week, and this coincides with my wordy advert being published in a magazine the same date. It is wordy because I cannot include photos for reasons already mentioned. Like the current bunch of Party Leader hopefuls, I will be spending the next couple of weeks blowing my own trumpet. I think I can make a better job of it than them. I think I could make a better job of Prime Minister than them too.

Also over the next couple of weeks I will be making my own Bottarga. Remember when I wrote about my late discovery of Bottarga a few months ago? In case you don't, Bottarga is a typically Italian thing made from fish roe dried with salt. The process is very simple but very painstaking, with a salt-change twice a day for 14 days. This is why it costs a fortune to buy ready prepared.

When the process is finished (in my case it is cod roe, but mullet is more traditional) you are left with the deep, rust-red sac of roe, ready to grate over pasta. That's all you need for a delicious meal - pasta sprinkled with Bottarga. It is very intense. A little goes a long way.

The most expensive meals in Italian restaurants are usually extremely simple, with only two ingredients. I am thinking of pasta with a grating of precious white truffle over the top.

My £6 investment is going to go a very long way. I'm looking forward to the journey.