fish

Today's blog is all about fish - not so much any particular recipe - but rather an attitude towards cooking fish. Here in the UK we seem to be very wary about cooking fish. As an island race we once lived surrounded by seas rich in fish. Today those fish stocks are much reduced, but our attitude towards cooking fish must surely have been forged at a time when haddock and herring were plentiful. 
Fish is really easy to cook, once the flesh has reached a uniform temperature of 60 odd degrees (look it up for yourselves - I am too lazy) then the fish is cooked. So poaching or steaming most fish for 5 minutes or so should be enough. Deep frying can be achieved in a short time - a couple of minutes or so for smallish chunks of fish. Shallow frying can take a little longer, but not much. Grilling is all about using your eyes or a timer if not confident about the evidence of your eyes. Disaster is difficult to achieve (although I have managed it) when lots of things can be remedied by a bit more time on the grillpan or in the oven.
For the meatier fish like tuna or swordfish, which often come in the form of steaks, the truth is that I like them to have spent a bit more time on the grill than is usually recommended. I prefer them when they have dried out a bit. If you prefer your fish less well done then simply give it a bit less time.
Most fish have a very mild flavour. If you poach cod in plain water the resultant dish will not have much taste. So you are going to need to acquire more flavour from somewhere. A good way is to dust the fish in heavily seasoned flour (salt, pepper and sometimes paprika) and then shallow fry in chunks. Monkfish responds very well to this treatment. And if you can get it, gurnard - once cooked - is virtually indistinguishable from this magnificently ugly member of the shark family. Gurnard, by the way, is usually less than half the price of monkfish. 
I have not cooked shellfish that much, but the little I do know comes from my own trial and error. In Spain I once cooked the little clams that are called simply almejas without further linguistic adornment. I mixed good quality olive oil with a cheapish white wine, added a huge amount of very finely chopped garlic and let the whole lot poach gently until all the flavours had amalgamated. Then I dropped in the clams, put the lid on the pan and let the whole thing simmer away for about 5 minutes or so. I seem to recall it worked. 
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