Baked whole fish is something I've wanted to try for a while now, and although I couldn't in all honesty call this a British dish per se - I think people have been cooking fish like this literally everywhere there are fish, since the dawn of time - it does have a very English feel to it. I've struggled to come up with the words to explain it, so I'ma lay a visual on you:
If that's not English then I don't know what is (and yes, he's eating a whole fish in this scene. Or trying to).
If nothing else, this dish is rustic as all hell. Acquire a fish, scale it, gut it, and then shove it in the oven - that's it. And yes, before anyone asks, I did scale and gut my own fish. Decency prevents me from putting up any pictures of that process, but let me say that while I've never had to do that before, it in fact wasn't all that hard - although I think my hands are now doomed to smell of fish forever. You can take a look at my handiwork if you like:
Truth be told, I sort of thought (hoped) that the whole scales and guts thing could be taken care of at the fishmonger, but that's either not a real thing or I didn't give the right password to the otherwise very helpful shop assistant - when I asked if I had to scale it his actual reply was "uh, yea, you have to gut it too, man...". I have to admit, I did feel very manly in a heritage kind of way - when I was done I felt like lighting a pipe and chopping some firewood (I didn't).
At this point you might be thinking about fish and chips, so I'm sorry but I'll nip that fantasy in the bud right now. Although it's something I plan on doing eventually, proper "fish 'n' chips" is a completely different animal with it's own unique history. As I mentioned above this particular dish doesn't really have a story...people just...did it, I guess. Shall we move on?
EDIT: I wrote the first half of this blog prior to actually cooking my fish, and in the excitement of all the blood and guts, I forgot to think of anything to serve it with....so I cut some up some potatoes and made oven baked chips. So think of this as a really old school version of the British classic, ok?
Some technical stuff:
In keeping with the bare bones, countryside nature of this dish, I really wanted the fish to speak for itself - so with that in mind all I did was put some lemon slices into it prior to cooking and season it with salt and pepper. Re-inventing the wheel - no, but delicious - yes. I wrapped it in aluminium foil with a wee bit of olive oil and baked it for 45 minutes.
The chips I parboiled for a couple of minutes (after I had cut them), then tossed them with some paprika, chili flakes, salt and pepper, and oil, then baked them for about 30 minutes - you might argue that chili flakes and paprika aren't English, but do remember the spice war that colored English history in the early 1600's! It was around back than, and the Brits were literally conquering countries for the stuff.
The asparagus.....got boiled for a few minutes. Could you throw a dollop of butter over the top just before eating? You be the judge.
So without further ado, here's the finished product:
A very rewarding dinner, to be sure. The fish tasted beautifully fresh, and as I hoped hadn't had it's flavor masked by too much seasoning - in fact the only disagreeable bit was the flesh that had been directly under the simple stuffing, which tasted like a fishy lemon rather than the other way around. The chips were absolute winners too, and the asparagus, while not plated in the most elegant fashion, was great with a bit of fresh lemon squeezed over.
It's beautiful in it's simplicity, isn't it? This is such a visual way to eat fish, it reminded me of a time when I was 4 or 5, and Dad had cooked a whole fish. I asked for the eyeball, so I could play with it or eat it - mercifully I can't remember which. I think it must be the same primal pleasure you get as a kid poking all the packets of meat in the supermarket (what's that all about?).
To me it doesn't get more homey than this, and that's why I chose it for tonight. Buying a fish - least not a whole one - means who have to eat it that night, so there's a great feeling of having to go out and find your dinner before you can eat it. It's a beautiful, rugged thing, and it perfectly encapsulates what British cuisine is all about.
If you have anything to say feel free to leave a comment or get to me on Facebook. Otherwise, til next Sunday folks!
-Jon
P.S. If anyone was wondering, it was a mullet - chosen for it's sustainability in Western Australia.
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