Out & About Autumn 2019

Out&About food & drink

FISH

Fisherman’s tales SIMON RHODES sets little store by most fisherman’s tales, except when it comes to tides, and he instigates a risotto cook off – mushroom or fennel, you decide

T ides and a Risotto Cook Off. We all know that fishermen’s tales are legendary and that the excuses for not catching fish are far reaching. I’ve heard many excuses since being a fishmonger, blaming poor fish supplies on bad weather, poor visibility, too cold, too warm, too windy, El Niño, French bank holidays, leaves on the line (ok, I made that one up) and the best of all was snow in Israel affecting samphire production. The newest excuse I heard this week was that the tides have been affected by the moon and the sun, which means that at this time of the year there is little tidal movement and so the fish are not using 1. Heat a little oil in a pan and sweat down some finely chopped onion/ shallot. (For the fennel risotto use finely chopped fennel instead) then add a little splash of white wine. 2. Add in the Arborio rice and stir in. 3. When the liquid has been absorbed, add a good knob of butter and again stir in. Then continue to add fish stock and continue stirring. Add the stock a little at a time so that the rice absorbs it as it cooks. We found that by adding a few mussels and crevettes to the fennel risotto the flavour was enhanced. 4. For the mushroom risotto, rehydrated dried oyster mushrooms were used and the liquor used as a stock, add some finely chopped oyster mushrooms during the cooking process.

mushroom risotto with pan-fried John Dory and a pea and mint purée. This sparked a lively debate in the shop among us armchair food critics as to whether the mushroom risotto was a bit overpowering for the dory. I suggested perhaps a lighter, more fragrant, fennel risotto which was fiercely debated and argued against. So, there was nothing to it, but to get out the pans, scour the shop for our ingredients and have a ‘cook off’ for the most appropriate risotto. Both risottos were cooked from scratch using the same method but just changing the flavours.

the currents to swim and so they become ‘lazy’ and don’t feed so much as they are not using as much energy. Apparently this is true – this tidal movement is called a neap tide. Neap tides occur when the Sun and Moon are at right angles to one another as seen from Earth. In this case, the gravitational forces counteract each other, creating weaker tidal forces. This time of year is supposed to be the safest time to swim in the sea as the currents are not so strong. A customer came in a few weeks ago and said that he was auditioning for Masterchef and that he wanted to do a

To make the risotto

Whether you go for mushroom or fennel, the method is the same and, either way, you end up with a delicious, comforting plate of creamy risotto

5. Keep stirring until the rice is cooked and retains a firm bite and season to taste. 6. Finally add a little cream or milk and garnish with finely chopped fennel leaves and a little freshly grated parmesan cheese. 7. Garnish with a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil. Any fish can be used to accompany the risotto. I have found that gurnard fillets are a good substitute for John Dory. Because risottos are very versatile, why not try fillets of steamed salmon or smoked haddock and smoked bacon to go with it? The debate continued unresolved. However both risottos tasted great and us armchair critics nevertheless had big smiles on our faces and full tummies.

Simon Rhodes owns: The Lobster Pot Fishmongers. Cobbs Farmshop, Bath Road, Hungerford, Berkshire RG17 0SP Telephone: 01488 686770

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O&A AUTUMN 2019