One of the very first photographs I had taken as a kid was of my little brother Jon, maybe aged 6 years old, standing outside our holiday home in Rustington, West Sussex, proudly holding in his outstretched hand, the catch of the day, a Mackerel!
A year or so before this momentous picture had been snapped my father surprised us all and I dare say himself, by returning from an unlikely visit to the London boat show with a boat strapped to the roof of the car. Not any old boat and if Ikea had been in existence back then they surely would have been green with envy for having not thought up this little gem, a flat packed self assemble boat! It was indeed a wondrous thing and we wondered over the instructions in true Ikea style for a whole winter, slowly and steadily wiring plywood panels together, taping up the seams with fibreglass tape, and fastidiously varnishing all the woodwork with the very exotically named ‘international’ boat varnish, until sometime around Easter as far as I can remember the vessel was finally wheeled out of the garage and stood magnificently on the driveway, now all we needed was some water. Surrey not being noted for its coast (although it does have a ‘coastal cruising society’) we headed for Littlehampton and the Arun Yacht club. Membership cards singed we would spend the next decade of our lives very happily mucking about on boats.
Mostly our boating pursuits would entail freezing cold forays into the English Channel to race 20 or so other boats around cleverly placed buoys whose intention was to test ones seamanship to the utmost. As kids we thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and we would try to (actually we often did) win these races or regattas and claim both the accolade and applause from the clubhouse as well as a tiny little wooden shield. On occasion and when the weather was clement we would strap an outboard motor to the stern of the boat, leave the sails folded neatly in their bags and head out into the channel for a spot of fishing, we kept a simplistic fishing kit, a bucket with two or three Mackerel lines in it. These lines with their brightly coloured dancing feathers would be cast off and left to their own devises for a while, we would probably eat a sandwich and then excitedly haul the lines into the boat and every once in a while we would be treated to a string of fish, often just one, more often just none, but it kept us kids entertained, and cold!
Nowadays I don’t have to go to quite the same lengths to gather one of my favourite fish and living only 20 miles from where these momentous events took place some 30 years ago I am in a perfect spot for Mackerel. No, a quick 10-minute cycle along the seafront here in Brighton is all that’s required and I have the full treasures of the sea laid out neatly on ice and for the taking.
Mackerel is a proper fish, it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is quite probably the fish I eat more of than any other, lets hope it remains sustainable and cheap! To begin with it’s a real looker, dark and broody with flashes of silver and tiger stripes, it’s flesh is succulent and oily, it’s bones are substantial and easy to deal with. As with most fish there really isn’t that much to cooking them and Mackerel couldn’t be easier. These were pan fried, skin down in a little oil, two minutes and the skin is crisp, flip them over for a further minute and that’s it. What you serve them with is entirely a different matter, but I like to keep it simple and this Salsa Verde is a perfect partner for this glorious fish.
Salsa Verde
- Handful of mint leaves
- A bunch of Dill
- Handful of flat leaf parsley
- 2 tsp of capers (in brine)
- 1 anchovy fillet (in oil)
- 2 garlic cloves
- Salt & pepper
- 200ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon
Place all the ingredients in a blender and blitz to a coarse consistency, adjust seasoning and add a squeeze of lemon juice to taste.
