Good From Scratch

Michael Van de Elzen’s great catch & delicious rhubarb crumble

One of the first real jobs I had as a young chef was at an Auckland restaurant called Kermadec, one of the first eateries on the waterfront. It had fine dining, a busy brasserie, and a cool little bar out the back. Even I could afford to drink in it at the time, so it was a busy place.

Working at Kermadec was all about seafood. We had amazingly fresh fish of every variety: bluefin tuna, mahi mahi, orange roughy. We char-grilled them, poached them, and served them raw, but nothing was more popular than fish covered in a simple crispy batter.

We sold tons of battered fish. Each one was carefully fried to perfection by the overworked deep-fry chef. After a 12-hour shift, he must have gone home reeking of canola oil.

Who doesn't love fish and chips? But the more important question is, do you like batter or do you prefer crumbed? I love them both. Beer batters are easy to make – simply whisk beer into self-raising flour until it's a thick batter.

But the great thing about crumbing fish is you can pan fry it in a lesser amount of oil or bake it in the oven for a far healthier option.

This month, I'm sharing a great crumbed fish recipe using one of my favourites, gurnard (see page 40) – its small, thick fillets stay moist after cooking.

How to buy the catch of the day

Here's my advice for what to do when choosing fish at the supermarket or speciality fish shop.

WHEN buying whole fish, ensure the eyes are plump and the gills are bright red.

FRESH fish shouldn't smell fishy.

IF you can, buy whole and ask the fishmonger to fillet it for you – that way, you ensure you're getting the freshest fish possible.

EXPERIMENT – try different fish. Ask the server for more information when different fish are in store.

ONCE purchased, keep fish cold! Go straight home and get it into the fridge quickly.

EAT it that night. Only buy fish on the day you want to eat it and only get enough for the one meal. Seafood is expensive, and a limited commodity so let's not waste it.

The best accompaniment with your fish is a creamy homemade tartare sauce. I'm always amazed at the huge number of different sauces, dressings, mayonnaise, and aioli available from the supermarket. The price difference between all the brands varies widely depending on the quality of ingredients used, but they're easy to make yourself.

Mayonnaise is the perfect base for tartare sauce (get my recipe on page 40). I make a batch, keep it in a jar in the fridge, and then add flavours to suit what I'm cooking:

base + smoked chipotle + garlic = American-style aioli

base + chopped gherkins + a little gherkin juice + sautéed onion + tomato paste = burger sauce

base + crushed black garlic = black garlic aioli

base + truffle oil = truffle mayonnaise