The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Saturday
COOKING THE BOOKS Putting recipes to the test
THE SEAFOOD SHACK
Kirsty Scobie and Fenella Renwick, coauthors of The Seafood Shack (Kitchen Press, £20) live in Ullapool, a coastal village in the north-western reaches of the Scottish Highlands. In 2016, frustrated by the lack of places serving just-landed seafood, the pair opened said shack, turning the catch landed by their family and friends into unfussy dishes for locals and tourists alike. The past five years have seen their stock rise, culminating in this book.
THE APPROACH
For many people, fish cookery is shrouded in mystery. The Seafood Shack takes the view that cooking seafood is much simpler than one might think. Set over a few short chapters, this approachable book looks at white and smoked fish, molluscs, crustaceans, sides and sauces. The recipes are primarily based on what their shack offers. For a locked-down urbanite like me, this provides muchneeded marine escapism. Lovely, too, are the stories of fishermen and fishing history that bookmark its pages.
THE RECIPES
Mostly simple, there’s a (fairly) wide range, and, dutifully, I opted to spread out between different categories. A creamy cullen skink, which I tampered with by adding smoked mackerel, was an additional highlight.
Pan-fried cod with pesto and breadcrumb topping
A top recipe for finishing off a half-used jar of pesto. I was worried it might be a touch salty, with pesto, parmesan and seasoning to boot. However, this was delicate, crunchy, zesty (I would’ve added more zest), and went brilliantly with a creamy colcannon. I switched cod for whiting, simply because I already had some, and it was a hit.
Thai mussels
Many still shy away from cooking mussels, but, provided you source fresh ones from a good fishmonger, they’re a
cheap, easy, nutritious and carbon-positive food to cook. Here, red onions, peppers and red curry paste are sweated off before introducing the bivalves. While delicious, I found it almost too subtle, requiring a chilli boost, and coconut cream may have worked well over double. Nevertheless, with some crusty ciabatta rolls to mop up the sauce (of which there could have been more), I was satisfied.
Curried smoked haddock Scotch eggs Never has a kitchen nightmare produced something so tasty. Having removed my eggs too early from the boiling water, they were too soft and easily pierced, rendering them unusable. I ended up with one egg intact, and two precarious ones, to which the curried potato and smoked haddock batter failed to stick. I ended up with something more like a fish cake hash, but it was delicious. If anything, I was left with a newfound admiration for the UK’s Scotch egg producers.
THE VERDICT
I loved this book, but have one main qualm: quite significant fish were absent. There was nothing with salmon, smoked or fresh, and no fresh mackerel. These may be fairly run-of-the-mill species, but are still routinely ruined by home cooks. Nevertheless, there is plenty on show, with several British classics and a fair few foreign-inspired delights (particularly Thai), and good tips for techniques. It’s worthy of a spot on any seafood lover’s shelf.
by Tomé Morrissy-Swan