Over the coming weeks and months Rye News is going to take a detailed look at the local fishing industry. We’ll look back on it’s history in the town, talk to those involved in fishing today, and look to the future. To whet your appetite, here’s a simple fish recipe from Natasha Robinson.
We are a coastal community, yet we don’t eat much fish. We clearly like it, as Marino’s and The Strand Fish and Chips will tell you. But then pretty much anything deep fried is delicious. At home we view it as a nuisance: it makes the house smell, or it’s full of bones.
Going to restaurants would seem the ideal time to eat fish, but when was the last time that you saw ‘catch of the day’ on a menu. Once you’ve fought your way through smeers, foams and crumb, there’s not much left to enjoy. And don’t get me started on ‘surf & turf’.
Summer is the perfect time to practice if you’re not a confident fish cook. Throw open your kitchen windows and doors and you’ll see that it’s easy.
This is not a recipe. All ingredients can be added to, or changed, so turn on the oven and follow this method:
Large tomatoes from Jempson’s, some olive oil, into the oven, 180, for about 30 minutes.
Baby potatoes from Johnson’s Fruiterers, steamed for about 15 minutes, as the tomatoes are roasting.
Add some olives. You can see that the tomatoes have softened, released some juice, but still hold their shape.
Now make some room for the main ingredient.
A beautiful gilt-head bream from Rye Fish Market. They will clean it for you, ready to cook. Bream has large bones so is easy to fillet. Ask the fishmonger for advice if you’re not sure which fish has more or less bones. Before cooking, I rinse the fish inside and out, under cold water.
Pour in some wine, any wine, whatever’s open. If it’s not good enough to drink, it’s not good enough to cook with. How much? Depends how much sauce you want. It’ll be in the oven for about 45 minutes, so you don’t want it to dry out either.
Put the steamed potatoes into the dish. Any veg you use needs to be steamed or par-boiled. It’s a complete fallacy that you can roast vegetables in under an hour.
The seasoning, chilli flakes, fresh herbs from my garden, submerged in the wine so that they don’t burn. Always wash fresh herbs; they are a perfect vehicle for soil, insects and E.coli.
The dish goes into the oven for 45 minutes. This of course depends on the size of the fish and the strength of your oven. When you take it out, the skin should be crispy and the flesh should feel firm when you press it with the flat side of a fork.
All that’s left to do is plate it. You don’t have to be an experienced Front of House professional, the fish will fall away from the bone once you’ve broken the skin. Season the veg with some salt and squeeze some lemon on the fish.
This method means that you don’t have to fuss over anything and you can do other things at the same time, or even prepare the tomatoes and potatoes in advance. If you do this, make sure your oven is hot before you put the fish in.
Try different fish, prawns, fish stock instead of wine, roast potato wedges, fennel, carrots, roast onions, wilted spinach at the last minute, dried herbs, spices, garlic, one large fish to share if your oven’s big enough, the options are infinite.
So follow the pictures for guidance, or read the words for security, but cook more fish. Spend the summer experimenting, because this winter we can move on to shellfish…Enjoy.
If you’d like to be featured as part of our series on Rye’s fishing industry, get in touch on email – info@ryenews.org.uk
Image Credits: Natasha Robinson .