Cookery tips from James Batty in his book, Fishing from the Rock of the Bay
Posted by Lydia Unwin on
A flavour of James 'Leaky Boots' Batty's writing from his book:
The Song of the Solitary Bass Fisher
Fishing from the Rock of the Bay
I’ve watched television chefs make crumb coating. They talk about one hand for the dry stuff, one for the wet. It’s never worked for me, I just make an ambidextrous mess. But you need three bowls anyway. To serve four people I use two tablespoons of plain flour with a teaspoon each of garlic salt and smoked paprika. That’s bowl one. Bowl two just has a beaten egg. Bowl three has a dozen Ritz crackers smushed to a powder and about the same volume of finely grated parmesan. If you own a pestle and mortar – and like most people never can find anything sensible to do with it – use it to grind the crackers. If you don’t you can just bash them with the heel of your hand. Press your fillets into the flour, dunk them in the egg, then roll them in the cheesy crumbs.
When it comes to cooking you want to heat the pan before the oil goes in, it stops the fish from sticking. I don’t know why this makes a difference, it’s one of those mysteries, like the fact that hot water in the ice tray freezes faster than cold. I use medium heat, not enough to make the fat smoke, just a healthy sizzle. In goes a tablespoon of vegetable oil and the same amount of butter. Three minutes cooking on each side, job done.
But back to healthy treats, and one of my favourites is the humble pilchard, peddled these days as the much more self-assured Cornish sardine. They have to be properly fresh, I always cook them the day I catch them. But as long as they are, all they need is scaling, gutting, a wipe with some oil and garlic, a sprinkle of salt, and a few chopped chillies if you’re that way inclined. Then two or three minutes cooking on each side, on a blazing barbeque or under a dangerously hot grill, and you’re in for a treat.
Speaking of food, I mentioned smoked mackerel. I’m not sure how to do them on a gas barbeque, I’m an old-school pyromaniac, strictly charcoal, but I’m sure you could work it out. You need to fillet your fish, but don’t bother with the pin-bones, they’re easier to remove after cooking. Make a brine with two parts sugar to one part salt, as much as you can dissolve in a pint of boiling water. Chuck in garlic and herbs to taste. Then add enough ice cubes to cool the brew. Soak your fillets in the brine for an hour and a half. Make a small fire, six handfuls of charcoal, and push it to one side of the grill. Cover the grid with foil, otherwise you lose the odd portion between the railings and local children learn new vocabulary. Pat the fish dry, then spread them out on the opposite side from the fire. Lob in some smoke chips, put the lid on the barbeque, and cook for an hour, adding more chips once or twice. If you want to go all Masterchef, mix chopped chillies with maple syrup and lime juice and drizzle this stuff over your fish ten minutes before they’re done. Once the fillets are cool you can tweak out the pin-bones if you like, and dinner is served.
By the way, if you have a smallish bass – two pounds is ideal – you can make delicious ceviche. Fillet and skin the fish and cut the flesh into strips about an eighth of an inch thick. Squeeze four limes and one orange, add a couple of finely chopped chillies, a minced clove of garlic, a good pinch each of salt and sugar, and a small handful of chopped coriander, stalks and all. Pour the brew over the fish and leave it for half an hour. Then drain and eat with crusty bread. Some people are funny about raw stuff, but ceviche really isn’t raw. When you grill or fry, the heat denatures the protein in your meat or fish. Acid – vinegar or lime juice – does the same thing at room temperature.
