The Times Magazine 37MITCH’S RULES OF
COOKING FISH
Everything starts with
freshness. You can’t do
anything with old fish.
Keep it simple. Fresh fish
needs nothing more than
a dressing of olive oil, citrus
and a few herbs.
When cooking mussels discard
any that won’t close when
tapped and any that don’t
open after cooking.
Make sustainable choices.
Buy British-landed fish
(we manage our fisheries
well) or look for the
MSC blue tick.
When roasting whole fish
make a few diagonal slashes
in the flesh to the bone. It
will help with the cooking
time and give you visibility
on when it’s cooked.
When pan-frying a thick piece
of fish like cod or pollack,
start it in the pan for colour,
then transfer it to the oven
for a blast of all-round heat
to finish the cooking.
When grilling fillets, rub salt
and spices with olive oil into
the skin and grill without
turning – the skin will crisp
and the heat will transfer
through the fish.
Any superfresh fish can
be eaten raw. For a quick
ceviche chop it up and
marinade for 30 minutes
in lime juice and salt, then
toss in sliced red onion,
mint, chilli and coriander.
A foolproof way with all
fish is to cook it in a bag- parchment is best – and
add any flavours and liquid
you like. Fifteen minutes in
the oven and you will have
a perfect piece of fish.
All fish are interchangeable.
You can always swap bass
for bream, pollack for cod or
mackerel for sardines.
Eat!
MITCH TONKS
Eat! Mitch Tonks Continued from page 32
Prawn, gurnard and orzo
stew with fennel aïoli