The Sunday Times Magazine - UK (2022-04-17)

JOY OF SPRING

Set the table for longer, brighter days with these deliciously light recipes

L

ife in the country is sweet. I get to go down to

the kitchen gardens every day with my dog,

Bonnie, to figure out what’s ready to pick for our

menus at the restaurant. After we’ve all been

living on a diet of root veg and brassicas since

autumn, it’s great to herald the arrival of spring.

Suddenly, the greengrocer’s shelves (and our

garden) are groaning with tempting produce

and we will be hurtling towards summer in no

time. But not before we relish steamed British

asparagus or a bowl of spaghetti and spring

greens with freshly picked wild garlic pesto. Then

there’s spring lamb, spring chicken, spring greens,

spring onions — all packed with flavour.

Chefs get as giddy as school kids when these kind of

things start coming into the kitchen. It’s good to leave

heartier dishes such as stews and casseroles behind and

move on to a simpler, lighter style of cooking. Although

not strictly seasonal, the dishes here signal this direction

of travel and would work well if you’ve left your

planning to the very last minute this Easter weekend.

Charlie Hibbert is chef director at Thyme hotel,

Southrop, Gloucestershire. Visit thyme.co.uk

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CHARLIE

HIBBERT

STEVEN JOYCE FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE

Hake, clams

and green sauce

Hake is a wonderful, sustainable

choice of fish and a personal

favourite. It is soft, flaky and

often overlooked. This is an

easy and delicious take on a

classic Spanish dish and would

work equally well with cod. You

can always leave out the clams

if you don’t fancy or can’t find

them. It will still be delicious.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion


• 2 celery sticks


• 1 head of fennel


• 50g butter


• 4 x 200g hake fillets


• Sea salt flakes and freshly
  cracked black pepper


• 100ml fish stock (or water)


• 30 palourde clams, rinsed
  (discard any cracked or open)


• 75ml white wine

For the green sauce

• A large bunch of parsley


• 10 anchovies


• 20g capers (in brine)


• 1 garlic clove, peeled


• Enough olive oil to cover

01 First make the green sauce.

It’s sensible to have it ready

so you won’t need to rush

further down the line. Chop

the parsley finely, followed

by the anchovies and capers.

Crush the garlic and add it to

the rest of the ingredients. Add

just enough olive oil to loosen

the sauce but not to swamp it.

Leave to one side.

02 Dice the onion, celery and

fennel as finely as possible.

Melt the butter in a wide pan

and add the diced vegetables.

Sweat them in butter over a

medium heat for 8 min or until

softened and pale. Season the

hake with salt and pepper and

place the fillets gently on top

of the cooked veg. Add the fish

stock and cover the pan with

a lid. Gently simmer for 6 min,

by which time the fish will be

cooked. Test it with a skewer:

there should be no resistance.

03 While the fish is cooking,

put a second pot over a high

heat. Allow the pan to heat up

before tipping in the clams

and wine. Put the lid on, give

the pan a good shake and

cook the clams for 3-4 min

or until they have opened.

04 Remove the fish and the

clams from the heat. Stir the

green sauce through the clams

before tipping them over the

fish, along with all the cooking

liquor. Give the pan a gentle

shake to settle the clams in

among the fish and serve with

warm crusty bread.

The Sunday Times Magazine • 41