Passion for Seafood

FOR HIS Passion for Flavour, which won the 1997 Glenfiddich Food Book of the Year Award, it was said that “Gordon’s passion for food infuses every page… the simplest of ingredients are combined to make a truly wonderful dish which eats like a poem.” Well, the food poet is back to his old tricks again, this time involving fish and shellfish, demonstrating that a chef with three Michelin stars on his lapel is not afraid to go it simple.

Aimed squarely at home cooks, particularly those who may never before have dared to disembowel seafood in their kitchen, the book starts out with clear instructions on how to buy – from choosing the freshest specimens to calculating quantities – with a comprehensive guide to skinning, filleting, trimming, preparing, marinating, flavouring, cooking and freezing all kinds of fish and shellfish.

With the first myth on the difficulty of fish preparation blown out of the way, he moves on to demolish the next one. With seafood, he asserts, the least complicated cooking methods are often the best, and he proceeds to describe in depth such techniques as pan-roasting, grilling and poaching. Having armed you with the basics, he nudges you to get your hands really dirty with 100 recipes to choose from, from the homely comforts of Salmon Fishcakes with Brioche Crumbs and Fennel Soup with Roasted Cod to the more exotic Crab Ravioli with Lemongrass Vinaigrette. Like ‘Fish-Tales of the Unexpected’ the book divulges surprising combinations of flavours and textures, and you’ll soon be experimenting with creamy, buttery sauces, sole fig and lemon confit, cannelloni of prawns with tarragon hollandaise, risotto with pan-roasted squid, or smoked trout with spicy aubergine salsa and anchovy-dressed leaves, just to see what happens at the end.

Nor will you have to rush off to other cookbooks to find accompaniments. The last 20-odd pages of the book are dedicated to such delights as spiced rice pilaff, good old mash, fondant potatoes and gratin of spinach and gruyère. To round off the experience, he even makes suggestions on the type of wine that might accompany each recipe. All you have left to do, then, is agonise over the dessert.

Passion for Seafood is published by Conran Octopus and is available from Moufflon Bookshops (£19.95)

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