A feast of fish: three special Rowley Leigh recipes

I once went to cook dinner at the fine home of someone who won my services at a charity auction. I found myself in her sitting room, drinking coffee on a sofa so deep and well-upholstered that I perched on the edge for fear of sinking into it completely. There was a huge Rauschenberg on the wall behind me, in front of me a sea of fluffy white carpet. We discussed the menu, then chatted in a desultory manner. She told me how much she loved to cook, but occasionally liked a ready meal. She had a lot of her favourite brand’s fish pies in the freezer because they were so handy and — this is what really struck me — it meant “you don’t have to have fish in the house”.

When did we become so afraid of fish? When I was growing up, there was a fish shop in every town. It might have been an independent, the posh sort that festooned its frontage with game in fur and feather during the season, or it might have been a branch of the once-ubiquitous Mac Fisheries chain. This could be relied upon for herrings for tea, coley for the cat, cod for Friday’s fish pie and something a little more grand, halibut, say, for the dinner party. But at some point, around the time we got fitted carpets, double glazing and one of those deeply cushioned sofas, fish sales started to decline. They are still in decline, although sales of frozen and farmed fish, ready meals and pub and restaurant sales manage to keep a declining industry just about afloat.

Having owned a fish shop — a successful one at that — I can attest that it is not easy to turn a profit from a product that is unsellable, or should be, after 24 hours. You only have to walk around most supermarkets, with one honourable exception, to realise that the big boys have pretty much given up on wild fish. It simply does not fit their business model. Wild fish (from sustainable fisheries that is), is mostly caught by small boats and cannot usually be bulk bought. Nor does it conform to a regular size, making it difficult to portion and calculate an accurate margin. And the stuff goes off, which is bad for business. Rotting fish is terrible PR.

Nothing looks more alien than a whole monkfish with its head on. And yet, there it was, on a slab, staring dolefully up at us

Fresh fish does not smell. The rule at my fish shop was that it should not smell of fish, a precept I learnt from the manager of the fish counter at Dean & DeLuca in New York when I complimented him on his display.

But there is something else wrong in the British psyche when it comes to fish. Yes, we live on an island and our waters still have plenty of the stuff (not as much as before, but stocks under threat are better managed and protected now), yet we appear to be nervous about cooking it. And we are afraid of bones, partly because the Queen Mother had a tendency to choke on them. Since we all became seasoned restaurant diners a generation or two ago, we now expect our fish to come in neat little fillets. Now that we rarely see fish on a slab, and our mothers no longer send us down to collect plaice and herring roes for supper, it has become alien to us.

Nothing looks more alien than a whole monkfish with its head on. And yet, there it was, on the slab at Morrisons, staring dolefully up at us. I knew the photographer would not be able to resist its gruesome charm although we already had a pretty kettle of fish from the van in the market. We took them all home with a mission in mind: we wanted to prove that cooking fish is easy and takes no time at all.

Mixed fish grill with pimentón, chickpeas and salsa verde

Serves 4 to 6

A good recipe for oddments. Skate knobs are little muscles at the bottom of the central spine of the fish and are much prized. A non-stick oven mat is a great boon when cooking trouble-free fish that won’t stick to the pan.

1. Place the oven mat on a flat griddle pan (or straight on the hob if you have an Aga or similar). Season the fish very well with sea salt and then dust copiously with the pimentón.

2. Massage with the olive oil and then place down on the mat. The fish will cook very quickly and colour appetisingly: the monkfish will take five to six minutes a side, the skate three to four, the knobs and the megrim even less. Turn over when nicely coloured and remove just before you think it is completely cooked.

3. Let it rest on a platter, lifting the fillets off the megrim and carving
   the monkfish away from the bone. Add a generous squeeze of lemon just before serving

For the chickpeas

If you are feeling lazy, don’t hesitate to get them out of a jar or a tin.

1. For preference, soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of cold water. If you don’t have the time or foresight to do this, simply cover with cold water, bring to the boil and then remove from the heat and let stand for an hour before draining and rinsing. In either case, cover with fresh water, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and add the garlic, rosemary and chilli. Simmer and cook very gently for two hours or until tender. Do not season until the peas are completely cooked.

2. Remove the garlic and chilli from the chickpeas. Squeeze out the pulp from each and heat with the tomatoes and a good teaspoon of salt before adding the chickpeas with a little of their cooking liquor. Simmer for five minutes and check seasoning before serving.

For the salsa verde

1. Pound the garlic with a teaspoon of coarse salt to make a paste before adding the anchovies and capers. Wash and chop the picked leaves of the parsley and mint before adding to the mix.

2. Add the lemon juice and olive oil. The salsa can be quite coarse so if blending in a machine, take care not to reduce it to a complete pap.

Red mullets in paper with skordalia and a Greek salad

Serves 4 to 6

I first came across a recipe for ungutted mullets cooked in paper in Dorothy Hartley’s Food in England, a wonderful mine of unadorned, traditional country recipes. Her recipe uses lots of butter which is poured over dry toast with the fish on top. The guts of the mullet practically dissolve but give a lovely anchovy-like flavour to the fish. This time, I had just returned from Kefalonia and the holiday spirit was still with me, but the feta can be dispensed with. Indeed, a simple salad of Cos lettuce leaves would be excellent.

For the mullets

1. Cut the paper into circles of about 25cm. Sprinkle a little salt on the bottom with a sprig of thyme and a piece of lemon peel. Place a fish on top and a few drops of olive oil. Brush the perimeter of the paper with egg white (not essential but it helps). Fold the paper over into a pasty shape and, starting at one end, fold the edges over each other to make a seal. Just before closing, add a tablespoon of wine to the fish. This stage can be done well in advance.

2. Sprinkle a little water on the packages before placing them in a hot oven (210C) for 10 minutes and serve as is.

For the skordalia

1. Crush the almonds and garlic to a paste in a mortar with a teaspoon of coarse salt.

2. Soak the bread in water and then squeeze dry. Add to the garlic and mash to a smooth paste before slowly adding the oil and finishing with a squeeze of lemon.

For the Greek salad

1. Cut the tomato into wedges. Peel the cucumber, split it down the middle and remove the seeds before cutting into half-moons. Toss the cucumber in a little salt. Slice the onion, cut up the feta and toss everything together with some oregano leaves, a squeeze of lemon juice and some olive oil.

Baked hake with mustard, breadcrumbs and tomatoes

Serves 4

An incredibly simple way to cook fish. Cod or even pollock can be substituted for the hake. If you are unsure whether the fish is cooked, probe it with a skewer: there will be no resistance if it is.

1. Season the fish with sea salt and pepper. Mix the mustard and cream together and brush the top of the fillets with a thick coating of mustard. Then cover with the breadcrumbs.

2. Remove the stalks from the tomatoes, drop them in boiling water for 20 seconds, then refresh in cold water and remove the skins. Slice them and lay them in the bottom of a gratin dish. Season well and sprinkle with the marjoram, oregano or basil. Lay the fish on top, sprinkle oil over the breadcrumbs and bake in a hot oven (210C) for 15 minutes.

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