As with every October and November, gourds slowly begin to invade every meal. At the weekend there was roast chicken with crispy potatoes and a few slices of orange butternut sitting gingerly on the side. Then there was the post-bonfire night pumpkin soup, the roasted squash, steak and feta salad and there are still bulbous orange orbs sat atop most of the kitchen surfaces. If I’m really lucky, Katie will hopefully make her extra special pumpkin pies around Thanksgiving time. Don’t get me wrong, I really like it all, but sometimes you can definitely have too much of a good thing. So it was really good to recently stumble across a new (to me) preparation technique, something much more vibrant and fresher than the standard roasting, mashing or gratinating. The Duck Soup cookbook is definitely one of my favourite sources of cooking inspiration of late, and I was intrigued to see them treating butternut squash much like a summer courgette; peeling it thinly and tossing it raw into a salad. I’ve always been nervous about the taste of uncooked ‘green’ gourds, but after marinating briefly with a few trusty flavourings, I was dead happy with the results. The thin ribbons still retain a slight bite, but are reduced to a beautiful delicateness which marries perfectly with the other components on the dish.
The concept of this recipe began way before the detail, to the point where I still didn’t know what fish to use on the day that I was due to start cooking. Luckily, with a large slab of glistening fish at my disposal, I had plenty of options to pick from. The old curing or raw favourites were all there; bright pink tuna, beautifully fatty salmon and wild seabass like cricket bats. But keeping with the autumnal spirit, it seemed more appropriate to take advantage of the tide of wonderful red mullet that have come into season lately. Although not traditionally served in an uncooked state, they carry a lovely sweet flavour and slightly oily texture which I thought would work well. They only require a swift dip into the salty cure, just enough to add a touch of firmness, before they are all set for the plate.
When serving cured fish, subtlety is king, and care must be taken not to interrupt the flavour of the main event. Although I have used garlic and dried chilli, only a slight touch is needed. The soured crème fraiche and picked mint leaves tie everything together, adding a final refreshing hit.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
For the red mullet:
2 red mullet, about 300g each, scaled, filleted and pin boned
200g sugar
250g salt
For the marinated pumpkin:
2 1” wedges of pumpkin or squash, such as butternut, Italian stripe or delicate
1 lemon, zest finely grated and half of the juice
1/3 clove of garlic, finely grated
A small pinch of dried chilli flakes
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
For the crème fraiche:
3 tbsp crème fraiche
A squeeze of lemon juice
To finish:
A few fresh mint leaves
Pour the salt and sugar into a bowl and mix together. Spread a quarter of the mixture evenly onto the bottom of a dish that is large enough to hold the mullet fillets in one layer. Place the fillets on top of the salt and sugar, then fully cover with the rest of the mixture. Use cling film to seal the dish, then refrigerate and allow to cure for about an hour. Once the fillets are cured, remove them from the dish and rinse clean, then pat dry with kitchen paper. Set aside.
Use a vegetable peeler to strip the pumpkin flesh into thin, long ribbons and place in a bowl. Squeeze over the lemon juice along with the zest, chilli flakes, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and a good pinch of seasoning. Combine well until each strand is well coated, then set aside to marinate for about an hour.
Spoon the crème fraiche into a bowl and season well. Squeeze in a small amount of lemon juice, about a teaspoon, then mix together with a spoon. Transfer into a plastic bottle.
Carefully skin the red mullet with a sharp filleting knife. Slice each fillet into three or four pieces.
To plate up, arrange the cured chunks of fish onto each plate, and generously squeeze on a few blobs of lemony crème fraiche. Top with strands of the marinated pumpkin and some fresh mint leaves. Spoon a little of the marinade over the top and serve.
Fish are as seasonal in our waters as the distinct harvesting seasons for vegetables, and the traditional shooting seasons for game. Temperature and weather conditions play a big part, and the variation in catches reflects this. Late spring and summer sees wild sea trout and salmon migrating back down their spawning rivers from sea, and it is the beginning of turbot season proper. Christmastime sees peak molluscs; juicy, heavy mussels and sweet clams. The autumn is bountiful, and almost everything is in great condition as the waters finally start to cool after months of heat. The most visual sign of this is the tide of beautiful red mullet that start appearing, scale perfect and ridged as darts. In the shops we sell two different sizes of these fine fish; the small ‘fritture’, perfect for frying whole as a wonderful evening snack with a glass of dry wine. But the larger ones are worth seeking out, for crispy-skinned fillets and the soft, part-oily flesh that yields that unique shellfish flavour.
In the year and a half that I have been a fishmonger, this is the first time that I’ve managed to take advantage of this wonderful produce. My colleagues swoon as soon as they start appearing on the ice slabs, for many they are an outright favourite. Such special fish deserve a special dish, and this time around I made sure I was prepared.
A good fish stew recipe is worth its weight in gold. It can be quickly rustled up in order to create a special and crowd-pleasing meal when suddenly faced with many mouths. It is perfect when the chills start and the nights creep in, providing a deep satisfaction, and a radiator-like effect on the body. My version takes the last of the summer tomato harvest combined with soft borlotti beans and roasted radicchio leaves. I heard recently that we are losing our taste for bitter leaves and was saddened. They are an acquired taste for sure, but tempered with clever cooking and flavour pairings they are delightful.
A small packet of bottarga accompanied me back from Rome, and I’ve been grating little bits of it here and there whenever possible. I love it simply with braised greens, lemon and olive oil a la The River Café, but it also really makes clams, shellfish and in this case, red mullet really sing. It acts as a fantastic enhancer, boosting other ingredients whist imparting its own subtle and delicious flavour.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 red mullet, about 400g in weight. Filleted and pin-boned.
1 medium squid, cleaned, scored and cut into strips
For the stew base:
The bones from the red mullet
3 shallots, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb, finely chopped
1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp dried oregano
1 star anise
1 tsp dried chilli
1 good pinch of saffron
4-6 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 glass of dry white wine
750ml good chicken stock
400g tinned or fresh borlotti beans, drained and rinsed if using the former
For the roasted radicchio:
1 small radicchio, trimmed and quartered
To finish:
A handful of basil leaves
A good glug of extra virgin olive oil
A generous grating of bottarga
First start off by making the stew. Heat a good glug of olive oil in a large, high-sided skillet or frying pan. When a medium temperature, add the mullet bones and fry until golden on all sides. Tip in the shallot, garlic and fennel along with a good pinch of seasoning, and continue to cook for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables have softened. Stir in the dried chilli, fennel seeds, paprika, oregano, star anise and saffron and continue to fry for a further 5 minutes, until the flavours have been released. Add the tomatoes and combine well with a wooden spoon. Cook until soft and starting to dissolve and create a sauce, another 10 minutes or so. Raise the heat and pour in the wine, allowing it to boil and reduce by half. Finally pour in the chicken stock. Bring the broth to a boil, then simmer gently for about 45 minutes, until the liquid has reduced and thickened a little. Strain into a smaller saucepan, and discard the now spent flavourings.
Bring the strained stew base back to a simmer and pour in the borlotti beans. Cook until the beans have softened and absorbed some of the flavour, about 10-15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200⁰C.
Arrange the radicchio quarters onto a baking tray and coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the hot oven for 10 minutes, or until the edges start to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and slice the leaves into small, rough pieces.
Pour a generous amount of oil into a large, non-stick frying pan and bring to a high heat. When really hot, add the squid and a good pinch of seasoning. Fry quickly for 1-2 minutes on each side, until golden and crispy. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain. Keep warm.
Give the frying pan a quick wipe clean and replace the oil. Bring back to a medium-high heat. Season the mullet fillets well and place skin-side down in the pan. Fry for 3 minutes, and use a tablespoon to baste the flesh-sides with hot oil at the same time.
To serve, spoon a good amount of the stew and beans into shallow bowls. Scatter the radicchio and squid over the top, and pop a fillet of red mullet in the middle. Arrange basil leaves around the sides and drizzle over some good olive oil. Finish by grating over the bottarga and serve.
