As an island nation surrounded by the sea and it’s rich produce you would think we would be a nation of seafood lovers, however the palate of the British nation doesn’t extend much beyond fish fingers, cod and chips and tinned tuna. This may in part be due to the lost art of preparing and cooking seafood or to the fact that people claim they don’t like fish. But it needn’t be this way. With a little bit of imagination you can make fish and seafood taste delicious and it takes no time at all to cook. If you take a trip down to your local fish monger you will see a whole host of different produce and expanding your horizons beyond cod and tuna can reignite your interest in this delicious food.
Look out for oily fish such as mackerel, sardines, trout, pilchards, herring as well as salmon. Mackerel for instance is quite cheap, and trout is a cheaper alternative to salmon. For white fish look out for pollock, sea bass, sea bream, gurnard as well as cod and haddock. Some other types of fish such as pangasius, snapper, tilapia are also becoming popular and can be bought at the fish monger. Then of course there is seafood such as mussels, prawns, crab and cockles.
Fresh fish is always better but eating some tinned fish now and then is also a good way to get more of this food into your diet. For instance as well as tinned tuna tinned mackerel, sardines, pilchards and salmon can also be bought quite cheaply in the supermarket.
If you don’t know what to do with fish just try one of these simple recipes.
Mackerel pate
Drain then empty a tin of mackerel into a bowel; add a dash of olive oil, some smoked paprika, salt and pepper and blend together with a hand held food processor (or mush together with a fork. Spread over two rice cakes for a delicious snack.
Fish parcels
Use Pollock, sea bream, gurnard or mackerel. For a Mediterranean flavour place the fish on a base of fennel tin foil, add a dash of olive oil, some thyme and oregano and some lemon juice. Fold up the parcel and place in the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Serve with a garden salad, chopped tomatoes and olive. For an oriental flavour add the fish to a base of chopped chillies, ginger, garlic and lemon grass, add a dash of sesame oil and tamari sauce and cook. Serve with whole grain rice and some steam bok choy.
Fish and chips
Dice up some potato or sweet potato in to wedges (leave the skin on) and par boil for 10 minutes, then toss them in oil or butter and place in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes until cooked and crisp on the outside. In the mean time take some white fish like sea bass or pangasius, season with salt and pepper, bay leaves and a sprig of thyme and steam bake (place some water in the bottom of the baking tray and cover with foil) for 15-20 minutes. Serve with the potatoes and some tinned mushy peas.
Welsh mussels
Dice up an onion and a leek and sweat down in some butter. Chop up some smoked bacon back and add the onion and leeks. Finally throw in your mussels and cover until the mussels open and serve. Throw away any mussels that have not opened.
Squid salad
Chop up some squid and fry it off in some olive oil with chilli flakes, garlic, salt and pepper. Serve on a bed of mixed salad.
There you go, quick simple and delicious seafood in less than 30 minutes (often times 15-20 minutes)
