To me, the nature and taste of a fish are often reflected by its name. In fact, it's almost anthropomorphic: the names john dory and red gurnard, say, sound as though they've just been for a swim with their cold-water fish friends, while mahi-mahi and parrot fish could only belong to the exotic fish family; hake, whiting and haddock, on the other hand, have such solid, sensible names that they just have to be related to the reliable cod family.
Now, this may sound a random set of associations, but Venus would never have risen from the shell of awinkle or whelk, would she? Only the fan-like scallop was deemed graceful enough by Botticelli. The scallop's taste is, accordingly, as sweet and tender as its nature would suggest, and less is very much more when it comes to cooking it: yes, you can do all sorts with a scallop, but something this delicate and creamy really needs little more than a quick sear in the pan for the sugars to caramelise and the flesh to brown.
Sea bass with lentils and pancetta
Serves four.
250g puy lentils
40g unsalted butter
75ml olive oil
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 5mm dice
1 large onion, peeled and cut into 5mm dice
4 sticks celery, trimmed and cut into 5mm dice
300g pancetta, cut into 5mm dice
1 tbsp picked thyme leaves
¾ tsp ground turmeric
2 bay leaves
Salt and white pepper
400ml vegetable stock
150g creme fraiche
1 tsp white-wine vinegar
8 small sea bass fillets, trimmed, pin-boned and skin lightly scored
1½ tbsp lemon juice
10g picked parsley, roughly chopped
Bring a medium pan of water to aboil, add the lentils and simmer for 18 minutes, till cooked but with some bite. Drain, refresh and set aside.
Put a large saute pan on medium-high heat and add the butter and two tablespoons of oil. Once the butter has melted, add the diced veg and fry for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until caramelised and soft. Add 250g pancetta, fry for five minutes more, then add the lentils, thyme, turmeric, bay and half ateaspoon of white pepper. Cook for two minutes, stir in the stock, creme fraiche and vinegar, and taste – add aquarter-teaspoon of salt, if needed (it will depend on how salty the pancetta is). Set aside in a warm spot.
Put a large frying pan on medium-high heat and add the remaining pancetta and oil. When the bacon starts to sizzle, lay in the fish fillets skin side down. Fry for three to four minutes, then flip and cook for aminute on the flesh side. Spoon the lentils into four shallow bowls and lay two fillets on top of each serving. Finish with a drizzle of lemon juice and a sprinkle of parsley.
Seared scallops with cauliflower and Jerusalem artichoke
Serves four.
1 medium cauliflower, broken into small florets
2 long strips shaved lemon skin
5 sprigs fresh thyme
5 jerusalem artichokes, peeledandcut on an angle into3cmx 2cmlengths
Salt and ground white pepper
350ml chicken stock
60g unsalted butter
20 king scallops
15g parsley, chopped
15g tarragon, chopped
3 tbsp creme fraiche
For the sauce
2½ tbsp olive oil
2 tsp allepo chilli flakes (or a third of this amount if using normal, very hot chilli flakes)
1¼ tsp ground cumin
5 garlic cloves, crushed
1 green chilli, finely chopped and seeds removed
1½ tbsp lemon juice
Put the cauliflower, lemon skin, thyme, artichoke and stock in amedium pan with a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, turn the heat to medium-high and cook for eight minutes, until the vegetables are just cooked through; add water if needed, so the veg are mostly immersed in liquid. Drain, discard the lemon zest and thyme, and return thecauliflower and artichoke to the pan. Add 20g of the butter, half a teaspoon of salt and aquarter-teaspoon of ground pepper. Roughly mash – you want some texture – and set aside.
For the sauce, put the oil in asmall pan on a medium heat. Add the chilli flakes, cumin, garlic and green chilli, and fry for two minutes, until the garlic is just cooked. Add the lemon juice and take off the heat.
Pat-dry the scallops with kitchen paper, put them in a small bowl andsprinkle over a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Add some of the remaining butter to a large frying pan and place on a medium-high heat. When the butter starts to foam, add as many scallops as you can fit comfortably in the pan and cook for three minutes in all, turning once, until golden brown and just cooked. Transfer to awarmed dish and repeat with the remaining scallops and butter.
Return the mash to a medium heat and stir through 10g each of parsley and tarragon, and the creme fraiche. Heat for two minutes, just to warm through.
Return the sauce to a medium heat, add the remaining tarragon and a tablespoon of water, and cook for a minute, just to warm through.
Spread the mash out on four plates. Place five scallops on top of each serving and spoon over the sauce. Finish with a sprinkle of parsley and serve.
Sticky rice fishcakes with red pepper and tamarind sauce
The more I try ready-made tamarind pastes, the more convinced I am that a block of tamarind pulp should always be in the fridge at the ready. Tamarind water made this way has adepth and quality that vinegary ready-made pastes don't come close to. Serves four as a starter.
150g Thai sticky rice, rinsed
350g skinless and boneless cod fillet, cut into 0.5cm dice
1 egg, beaten
½ tsp white peppercorns, crushed
2 spring onions, trimmed and finelychopped
1 stick lemongrass, outer leaves discarded, the rest finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, peeled andcrushed
35g coriander leaves, chopped
1 tsp finely grated lime zest
2 tbsp sunflower oil, for frying
For the sauce
30g tamarind block
1 large red pepper
1 large red chilli
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
20g coriander stalks, chopped
10g palm sugar
Salt
Start with the sauce. Put the tamarind in a bowl, pour on 100ml of boiling water and set aside for 30 minutes. Press down hard on the block with the back of a spoon, strain into a jug or bowl and set aside.
Heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. Put the pepper and chilli on an oven tray and roast for 10 minutes. Take out the chilli and roast the pepper for 20 minutes more, until the skin blackens. Put the pepper and chilli in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel and discard and skins and seeds. Set the flesh aside.
Put the olive oil in a medium frying pan on a medium-high heat. Fry the onion for 10 minutes, stirring, until starting to soften. Add the garlic and ginger, fry for five minutes, then tip into a food processor. Add the tamarind water, pepper and chilli flesh, coriander stalks, sugar and half a teaspoon of salt, and blitz smooth.
Now for the fishcakes. Put the rice into a medium saucepan for which you have a lid, add 270ml water and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, on a very low heat for 15 minutes, until all the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked. Remove the lid and set aside to cool. Transfer to a bowl and mix in all the other fishcake ingredients except the oil, and add three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt. With wet hands, shape into 60g patties 6cm wide and 2.5cm thick.
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan on a medium-high heat, then add half the patties and fry for eight minutes, turning halfway through, until golden on both sides. Transfer to awarm plate and repeat with the remaining fishcake mix. Serve hot with the sauce spooned alongside.
Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi and Nopi in London.
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