A lesson in cooking fish with the Cambridge Cookery School

By Olivia Abbott on May 6th 2010

A recently converted ex-vegetarian, Olivia Abbott gets to grips with fish, from filleting to frying, on a Cambridge Cookery School course

I used to be a committed vegetarian – had been for about 20 years - until I met my husband, an even-more-committed carnivore for pretty much the whole of his life. The fact that he found vegetarianism a challenge (read: boring) meant that from the very beginning we ate rather a lot of pub grub, and even in today’s enlightened world, for a vegetarian that can mean an awful lot of cheese and pasta. Now who was bored...?

The lesson commences with picking a knife...

And Tine demonstrates making the first cut on a lovely sea bass

Our beautiful fillets!

So, I started eating fish. And now that I’m eating it, I want to know how to deal with it. I love the idea of going to the fish van on the corner and asking for a couple of lemon sole and, when he says ‘Want me to fillet those for you love?’, being able to say ‘No thanks, I can do it myself.’ (All together now, ‘Sisters are doin’ it....’)

A hive of industry in the kitchen

A bowl of mackerel

Delicious Dover sole

As the wonderful Tine Roche, founder of the Cambridge Cookery School, pointed out, how great is it to go to a fishmonger (if you’re lucky enough to still be able to find one, that is) and be able to knowledgeably lift a gill and tell whether the fish is fresh or not? To know enough about your food not to be fobbed off with sub-standard, stale produce?

Tine demonstrates how to fillet a Dover sole

A careful stroke along the backbone...

... and the flesh comes away...

...to give a perfect fillet

Maria and Carrie look confident that they can do the same...

...but your editor is not so sure!

One of the things Tine is absolutely passionate about is putting people back in touch with the realities of food - getting them to think about where their food comes from, the life it’s lived, whether it’s from a sustainable source, whether it’s from a reuptable supplier, and whether it’s good for you or not. Which is why a Cookery School course is so much more than just learning how to create a few dishes. There were a few passionate, thought-provoking discussions about the ethics of food going on among my classmates, and we all learnt something new.

It's time to prepare the julienne vegetables to go with the sole

Hanging on to the skin as Tine taught us...

...Carrie expertly skins her sole fillet

Chief among the new things learnt, though, was how to chop the head off and bones out of a fish. Up until now, whenever I’ve been served a fish whole in a restaurant, I’ve had to ask my husband to ‘deal with it’ for me. He wouldn’t have recognised the woman gaily pulling the backbone out of a whole mackerel, its glassy eye still staring up at me, or digging the roe out of a beautiful, silky-smooth Dover sole, ready to wrap it around some julienne vegetables and steam to perfection.

‘The aim is for you to feel confident to be able to gut and fillet a fish yourself,’ said Tine, ‘and it’s a lot less messy than you think – it’s not as messy as dealing with a whole chicken, for example.’

Sandra preps the veg while Tine readies the fillets

Tine rolls the fillets into perfect little packages

... and pops them in the pan for steaming

Well, I wouldn’t know about dealing with a whole chicken, and I must admit that when Tine demonstrated gutting a fish, I did wonder if I’d be up to the task, but knowing that these fish were sustainably sourced and beautifully fresh helped. Freshness is absolutely critical, Tine advises, because fish, being cold-blooded, continues to decompose much faster than meat even in the fridge. ‘So don’t be afraid to tell the fishmonger you want to take a closer look,’ she said, ‘and lift up the gill to see what it looks like underneath. You’re looking for a good, dark red colour – that shows that the fish is lovely and fresh.’

The prawns and asparagus get a good grind of black pepper...

... a sprinkle of lemon zest...

...some fresh dill and they're ready to top the sea bass

And so, confidently, we took up our knives and began. On the menu were Plaice fillets en papillote (wrapped in paper or silver foil, to you and me), which was far and away the simplest dish we cooked and my favourite when it came to the eating part of the day; Pan-fried sea bass fillets with prawns, broad beans and asparagus – a restaurant meal favourite for me, and now I can’t wait to have a go at buying some whole and cooking them myself; Steamed Dover sole fillets with vegetable julienne - which, Tine explained, was almost a criminal thing to do to expensive, silky-fleshed Dover sole, which is best served whole and pan-fried, but the result was well worth it; and Mackerel Masala with spicy new potatoes and cucumber salad – again a real eye-opener on a new way to cook a fish that I would usually only buy pre-smoked and peppered. Plus, while all that was going on, we made a fish stock out of all the leavings and a few extra vegetables.

Our plaice parcels are all wrapped up and ready to go...

Maria adds a pinch of cumin to the spicy potatoes

... while Alison tests the pea puree

It was an enormously satisfying day, and I’m sure Tine won’t mind if I share that oh-so-simple plaice recipe with you: put your fillet of plaice on a lightly oiled piece of silver foil big enough to make into a loose parcel; put a dollop (a large teaspoonful) of creme fraiche on top of the fillet, add a little bit of freshly ground salt and pepper and a spring of rosemary. Close up your parcel and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. What could be easier? Enjoy...

The class enjoy a well-deserved glass of wine...

... before sitting down to enjoy the pan fried sea bass fillets...

...and the Mackerel Marsala

• For more information about Cambridge Cookery School's classes, including Friday Night cookery clubs, courses for youngsters and corporate events, visit cambridgecookeryschool.com or call 07531 521 633

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