Etienne le Riche has been part of a circle of friends who have been exploring the fishing grounds of the world together since their student days. It's taken Etienne from the Cape south coast to the Zambezi; Lake Kariba to the Cuanza River mouth in Angola; Terrace Bay and the coast near Khorixas in Namibia to Bazaruto in Mozambique; from a yacht off Madagascar onto a catamaran around Benguerra Island, searching for the vaunted Ignobilis kingfish, among others.
The memories of fishing for food as well as catch-and-release game fishing are captured in an intimate book of photographs and anecdotes compiled and self-published by fishing buddy Piet Beyers. A copy was presented to each of the group on the occasion of Beyers' 60th birthday in 2010. Contributions to Waaraan ek dink as ek terugdink [What I think about if I think back] include a chapter by Etienne, recalling the halcyon days of the 1960s as a schoolboy spent at the family holiday cabin Elwedans near Franschhoek on the rugged, then near-deserted Cape south coast near Mossel Bay.
Etienne recites a litany of the ocean’s bounty in the old days: galjoen, kabeljou, stompkop, elwe and belmanne. But the key to his account is the abiding memory of landing 38-pound yellowtail with its distinctive thick white lips off the rocks with an old homemade fishing rod as a 17-year-old boy. The makeshift rod was a replacement for Etienne's new rod borrowed and lost by his brother Louis' friend, who had in desperation acquired the homemade rod from another boy in exchange for a blue crane egg.
When Etienne finally landed the monster and handed it to his mother Alice to make her traditional curried fish, they found a spear-gun point in its flesh. A photo of Etienne, yellowtail, and homemade rod, plus the spear-gun point, found its way onto the counter of famous old Cape Town sports shop Jack Lemkus in St George’s Street, courtesy of Springbok spear fisherman Arthur Ridge, who worked there. Sometime later, a regular customer identified the spear-gun point as his!
Etienne's piece shows a literary bent. It's evocatively written, as is the whole book, in colloquial Afrikaans parlance, a nostalgic nod to the rich literary tradition of the time.
The late iconic Afrikaans writer Audrey Blignaut was one of the one-time visitors among the close circle of families (including the Le Riches) and friends that holidayed in an isolated little wooden cabin, Vergenoeg, along the coast in those days. So too were members of the Stellenbosch winemaking dynasty at Simonsig: the late Frans Malan and his family (son Johan, current cellarmaster, is Etienne’s younger contemporary and a fellow Guild member).
Beef fillet recipe with horseradish and roasted beetroot by Etienne le Riche paired with Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve....
‘Marcelle’s family comes from the Little Karoo and her venison pie recipe is one of my favourites.’ - Etienne le Riche....