Green chamber

Wrapping a piece of fish before you cook it is an excellent way of dealing with its delicate flesh, as it offers a certain amount of protection. Make a parcel of it, add other ingredients and suddenly you have a lovely little package filled with flavours, all contained and ready to mingle. It is a clever way of dealing with entertaining because it can be wrapped and ready to go, giving you more time to swan around and pour drinks. And, apart from anything else, it is easy and not messy.

There is a French term, en papillote, that refers to this method and usually means the fish (or other protein) is loosely wrapped in baking paper with other ingredients – maybe some lemon, perhaps some herbs, a bit of butter. The paper is folded in such a way as to make it airtight before the package is popped in the oven, allowing the fish to steam and gently cook. The only downside of this is if your friends attempt to eat the paper. You may laugh, but it’s a hazard, I’m sure, in many a dimly lit restaurant. (The guests I witnessed falling to this fate said my fish dish was lovely but a little chewy.)

The other way of going about this wrapping business is to use a leaf that will impart flavour, such as lotus or banana. Again, you can add any number of other aromatic morsels. As well as working in the oven, this is a good way of cooking fish over a grill or a barbecue, with the smokiness of the leaf adding another layer of flavour.

For this recipe, I have double-wrapped for extra excitement. The fish is covered in a paste, contained in a banana leaf and then, for its final coating, wrapped in paper. This allows fine hints of banana leaf to enhance the gentle steaming process.

The start of the idea for this was stolen from a Sri Lankan curry that one of my chefs discovered while trawling the internet.

I came into work one day and he’d tested it, an eggplant curry, and there it was bubbling away in a pot, dark green and swamp-like. He explained it to me, and the method of the dish is unlike any Sri Lankan curry I have come across. A coriander-heavy paste is made using peanuts and spices, and then cooked off with onions and other base flavours until it splits. Water is added to make it saucy and then in go the eggplants – small, light-purple striped ones – that have been cut and deep-fried. At the end you have this murky-looking dish with a surprisingly light, fresh and aromatic flavour. (I’m still trying to get to the bottom of the origins of this dish so if anyone knows, please help.)

Making a paste is a very efficient way of easily incorporating complex flavours, and it works wonderfully here. The banana leaf is an added aroma bonus and the look of green-ongreen encasing the white flesh of the fillet is also very pretty. The double reveal of paper and leaf is sure to impress.

Banana leaf baked fish with aromatic coriander paste

Serves 4-6

Time: 30 minutes preparation + 10-12 minutes cooking

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7.

50g roasted peanuts

2 large bunches coriander, stems and leaves roughly chopped

4 sprigs picked curry leaves

1 small red onion, diced

1 long green chilli, thinly sliced

20g ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tsp salt flakes

1 tsp fennel seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp coconut oil

600g fillet of snapper, skinned and pin-boned, at room temperature

1 long banana leaf for wrapping extra salt for seasoning

Place all the ingredients down to and including the cumin into a blender and blitz until a paste is formed.

Place a large frypan over a high heat and add the coconut oil. Once it warms, add in your paste (be careful, it will spit) and stir frequently for the first couple of minutes. Turn down the heat to medium and keep cooking, stirring often, for a further six minutes.

Set the paste aside to cool.

Lay down a long sheet of baking paper that is large enough to fold over and make a parcel for the fish. On top of this lay your banana leaf (again, it needs to be long enough to cover the fish).

Season your snapper fillet well with salt and then place it on the banana leaf. Cover the top of the fish with the paste before folding the leaf over the top. Trim any excess leaf, as it just needs to cover the fish.

Fold the paper over and then pleat the edges together to form an enclosed parcel. If you haven’t done this before, you may need to search the internet for further instruction.

Place this parcel onto a baking tray and cook in a preheated fan-forced oven at 220°C until the fish is cooked (10-12 minutes). Remove the parcel from the oven and lay on a large serving platter. Transfer the platter to the table and tear open the paper in front of your guests for the oohs and the aahs (being careful not to steam-burn yourself in the process).

Unfold the banana leaf and spoon the fish out to serve.