Fish Masterclass

First of all, catch your fish. Luckily, we didn’t have to do that, because it was absolutely perishing; the weather really made you appreciate those intrepid trawlermen who bring fish to the fishmonger’s slab on a daily basis. In this particular case it was S&P Fish at Barnstaple, trading from Butchers Row, who provided the wherewithal for the fish-cooking workshop being laid on by Simon Keating, Head Chef at Woolacombe Bay Hotel.

Together with David Knox, who deals with the hotel’s PR, I met Simon there early on an icy morning to go through the process of buying a good fish before making our way back to the hotel to cook it.

The slab was a glorious array of colours. "That’s why I prefer cooking – and eating – fish," Simon told us with refreshing candour. "With meat, what you have on your plate is, basically, just a square of brown something-or-other, whereas with fish you have so many different colours, textures and flavours, ranging from delicate to quite strong, that it’s a sounding board for a chef’s creativity.

"When people think of fish they automatically think ‘cod’ or ‘plaice’, but there is so much more available – and much cheaper than varieties that are now overfished and consequently fetch premium prices." Never did the phrase ‘There are plenty more fish in the sea’ ring truer.

Choosing your fish

Simon explained what to look for when buying fish. "First of all, smell it. If it smells of fish, then it’s to be avoided at all costs. On the other hand, if it smells of the sea, that’s a sign the fish is fresh. Similarly, look at the eyes. They should be bright and unclouded, and there should be a good colour inside the gills."

Only the surf crashing in the background would have made S&P’s slab more reminiscent of the sea and Simon pronounced himself supremely satisfied with the selection on offer – and there was a wide variety, at least 70% of which was from local waters.

One species on the slab that stood out from all the others was gurnard, a bottom-feeding fish that looks as though it could crawl out of the water and forage ashore at a moment’s notice. For a novice fish cook, it’s a good choice. The flesh is firm and meaty and full of flavour and the guts are all contained near the head. Consequently there’s no need to gut it, unless you intend to cook the fish whole – and a nice centre-piece it would make too. An added bonus is that it is a relatively cheap fish, being one of the alternatives to cod that chefs are actively seeking.

How to fillet

Back at the hotel, Simon showed us how to fillet the fish. A sharp filleting knife was the starting point. A gurnard is a round-bodied fish, as opposed to a flat-fish such as a plaice, and consequently all filleting follows much the same procedure. Lay the fish on its side, cut through just behind the gills until the edge of the blade touches the backbone, and then just slide the blade flat through the flesh, keeping contact at all times with the bone, towards the tail end. Turn it over and repeat the process and you end up with two succulent-looking fillets. They still retain the rib-bones, however, so they need to be pin-boned with a pair of kitchen tweezers if you prefer absolutely boneless fillets.

Simon also skinned the fish, which is a ridiculously easy procedure once you’ve practised a few times. Just place the fillet, skin side down, onto the chopping board, slide the knife into the flesh at the tail end at a 45° angle until it touches the skin and then simply hold the knife in place, grasp the liberated tail-end and draw it towards you with a see-saw action (ie move the skin, not the knife). And that’s all there is to it, apart from trimming the fillets clear of membrane to present a symmetrical shape.

There seems a lot of waste on a gurnard because it is mostly head, but it is a big fish and any remains can be used to make a fish stock. Trimmings can be frozen and saved up until there is enough to make a fish pie.

Accompaniments

Simon cooked the fish with sautéed Lyonnaise potatoes – a classic French dish cooked with onions – and garnished it with a freshly prepared salsa verde. He also let us in on a couple of chef’s tips for slicing and chopping onions. For slicing, cut off the roots and heads of the onions, rotate the vegetable to a position that will obtain more even slices and slice away – carefully! For chopping, leave the root intact, slice down vertically into the onion towards the head starting from a position some way in from the root end so that the layers will not separate. Then with the onion still whole but partly sliced, slice in horizontally from the head towards the still-intact root. Finally, slice the onion normally at right-angles to the original cuts. The result will be chopped onion of even dimensions.

Seasoned with sea salt and black pepper, the fish was simply baked in the oven in a dash of white wine for just eight minutes, much the same amount of time as it took to cook the potatoes. Finished off with the salsa verde, it was a gourmet meal, prepared and cooked in a matter of minutes. Any al dente green vegetables will suffice as an accompaniment and Simon’s favourite Sharpham Reserve wine will wash it down a treat. I can guarantee, if you have never tasted gurnard before, once you have, you will want it again.

Baked Lundy Gurnard with Lyonnaise Potatoes and Salsa Verde

Serves 2

 

Ingredients

1 gurnard

White wine

Sea salt and black pepper

Butter

10 new potatoes, cooked and sliced

2 onions, one sliced, one finely diced

Small bunch each of fresh coriander, dill and flat-leaved parsley

50ml Pomace olive oil

1 tbsp baby capers

Fillet and pin-bone the gurnard. Place the two fillets in a baking tray, sandwiched between two thin slices of butter. Add a dash of white wine, season with black pepper and sea salt and cook in an oven preheated to 180°C for 8 minutes.

 

To make the Lyonnaise potatoes

Melt some butter in a heavy pan and slowly cook the sliced onion until soft and clear. Add the potato slices and continue frying until the potatoes are coloured. Season with salt and pepper as required.

 

To make the salsa verde

Chop the coriander, dill and parsley and add to the diced onion in a bowl. Bind with the olive oil, add the capers to taste and stir together.

 

To serve, arrange the fish fillets on a bed of potatoes, top with a spoonful of the dressing and decorate the plate with the remaining dressing.

Malcolm Twigg

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