Jane Grigson's Fish Book - Jane Grigson [83]
Fillet the fish and put the two pieces side by side on a hot serving dish, skin side up. Spoon the mayonnaise over it, then streak with the pepper sauce, sprinkle on some cayenne and put back in the oven for 10 minutes to heat the sauces.
KOKOTZAS
As I explained on p. 99, these are the gullet muscles cut from beneath the lower jaw of a fish. They can be taken from any of the cod family, but in the Basque country, where they are a great treat, they come invariably from hake. From their form, they are often misleadingly called ‘tongues’ in French and English, which can be offputting. You may find it more helpful to think of them as blunted arrowheads. Small quantities for this recipe, as you will need a patient fishmonger, or a fishmonger in the Iberian peninsula, who will collect them for you. Salted and soaked kokotzas can be cooked in the same way.
For 2 or 3 people, season 250–300 g (8–10 oz) kokotzas and set them aside. Choose a glazed flat earthenware dish that will accommodate them nicely in a single layer. Heat up 5 tablespoons of olive oil in it and fry a large quartered clove of garlic in it until golden brown, then scoop it out, and put in the kokotzas with a tablespoon of chopped parsley, a small hot dried chilli (or a fresh one) and 90 ml (3 fl oz) water or light stock. Raise the heat.
Have ready 5 more tablespoons of olive oil, heated up in a small pan and cooked for a few minutes on its own. As the kokotzas cook, add this oil gradually and keep the pot moving to and fro; the juices should merge into a creamy sauce. Taste from time to time and remove the chilli when the mixture is piquant enough for your taste.
MAIA HAKE (Pescada à Maiata)
A Portuguese recipe for hake from Carol Wright’s Portuguese Food and one of the best ways I know of baking white fish fillets; whiting or John Dory or brill are every bit as suitable as hake. The idea of cooking mayonnaise in this way sounds bizarre, but try it. Remember that the Portuguese are the world’s masters in the use of eggs and have confidence.
Serves 6
4 large egg yolks
up to 400 ml (14 fl oz) oil, part olive, part sunflower according to taste
lemon juice or wine vinegar
salt, pepper
750 g (1½ lb) hake fillets
juice of ½ lemon
750 g (1½ lb) potatoes, scrubbed
extra olive and sunflower oil
1 small onion, finely chopped (optional)
Make a mayonnaise in the usual way with the yolks, oil, lemon or vinegar and seasoning to taste.
Put the fillets skin side down in one layer in a baking dish, of a size to leave enough space to take the potatoes eventually. Sprinkle them with seasoning and the juice of half a lemon. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180°C (350°F). Then boil the potatoes until they are almost tender. Run them under the cold tap, peel them and cut them into dice. Fry them in the extra oils until they are a nice golden-brown: they should not be a deep colour and crisp, but melting and even-toned. Arrange them round and between the pieces of fish. Spoon the mayonnaise mainly over the fish but a little over the potatoes; the exposed potatoes can be sprinkled with onion.
Bake for 20–30 minutes until the fish is just cooked and the mayonnaise lightly browned.
† HALIBUT ATLANTIC, PACIFIC & CALIFORNIA
Hippoglossus hippoglossus, H. stenolepis & Paralichthys californicus
The halibut is, or at least can be, the most monstrous of the flounders. In the Atlantic, specimens have been caught measuring over 2 m (6½ ft), nearly 3 m (9¾ ft) occasionally, in length and over 1 m (3¼ ft) wide – potentially a most flattening experience for halibut fishermen. I have occasionally seen fish measuring about half this magnificent length: they seemed quite big enough at the time, though nothing by comparison.
The name ‘halibut’ seemed odd at first. What kind of name could it be? As usual, the big Oxford English Dictionary provided the answer.