I don't know whether it was Margaret Costa who first brought Jerusalem artichokes and scallops together in one of her articles for the Sunday Times Sunday Times in the 1960s, but that was the first time I had ever come across the idea. She made a soup from the artichokes with some potato and chicken stock, onion softened in b.u.t.ter, then finished it with a few scallops cut into dice and poached in milk, some egg yolks and cream, and a scatter of parsley and the corals. in the 1960s, but that was the first time I had ever come across the idea. She made a soup from the artichokes with some potato and chicken stock, onion softened in b.u.t.ter, then finished it with a few scallops cut into dice and poached in milk, some egg yolks and cream, and a scatter of parsley and the corals.

About twenty years later, in 1985, I chose scallops and artichokes from Joyce Molyneux's menu at the Carved Angel in Dartmouth. This is her recipe. I have tried other, more elaborate, but hers is a winner.

Serves 612 large scallopsabout 500 g (1 lb) Jerusalem artichokes90 g (3 oz) b.u.t.ter6 tablespoons dry white winesalt, pepperchopped parsleylemon juice Remove the corals carefully, discard the tough white part and slice the scallops across into 24 discs. Peel, trim and cut up enough artichokes to give you a good 250 g (89 oz) matchstick strips or use a mandolin if you have managed to get a good smooth variety of artichoke. Keep the tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs for soup or stock.

Cook the artichokes gently in b.u.t.ter. When almost tender, season and add the scallop discs and white wine. Cook for a minute, then turn the scallop discs and add the corals. Leave a further minute or two, but avoid overcooking.

Scoop out all the pieces on to six hot plates, or a serving dish. Reduce the liquid if necessary by fast boiling. Check the seasoning, and add parsley and lemon to taste. Pour over scallops and serve immediately.

NOTE Joyce Molyneux also uses this recipe for lamb neck fillets. Sear them first, then add artichoke sticks and b.u.t.ter, then wine. Joyce Molyneux also uses this recipe for lamb neck fillets. Sear them first, then add artichoke sticks and b.u.t.ter, then wine.

SCARISTA SCALLOPS IN OATMEAL.

In Harris this recipe comes from Alison Johnson who with her husband runs a hotel on the sh.o.r.e, Scarista House scallops are always called clams. Most confusing. 'The biggest and best are got by diving, and these select sh.e.l.lfish cost half as much again as the dredged catch. Clam-divers are invested with high earning and an air of romance till something goes wrong. It is a physically taxing and very risky career. We always try to buy from divers. Not only are their scallops finer, smelling of the sea rather than bilge water, but they do no harm to the sea-bed. A dredge claws the bottom like a giant harrow tearing out every scallop, large and tiny, whole and broken, and devastating the entire plant and animal community of the sea-bed. Regeneration takes years, if indeed it ever happens.'

When I walked into the kitchen of Scarista House, to meet Alison Johnson for the first time, on the draining board was a vast pile of these magnificent scallops, still in their sh.e.l.ls, just delivered and waiting to be opened.

Serves 61824 large plump scallops, cleanedfine oatmealup to 125g (4 oz) b.u.t.ter, preferably clarified*shredded heart of 1 lettuce1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges Set 6 deep scallop sh.e.l.ls or small shallow pots of a similar size to warm in a baking sheet in the oven.

Slice the white part of the scallops across into two or three discs according to thickness. Separate the corals, cut off the dark end but leave them whole otherwise. Toss them all in a shallow wide bowl of oatmeal to coat them.

Heat a quarter of the b.u.t.ter in a heavy non-stick pan. Cook the white part of the scallops on both sides, until they are just cooked, 2-3 minutes. Go carefully, adding extra b.u.t.ter as required. Finally, cook the corals.

Divide the lettuce between the sh.e.l.ls or pots. Put scallops and corals on top, with a wedge of lemon.

SEVICHE, CEVICHE OR CEBICHE.

However you choose to spell the word, it should be p.r.o.nounced se-veech-ee. The best place to eat it is Peru, according to fortunate travellers, but you will also find it elsewhere in Latin America. It is one of the most delicious ways of eating fish, and one of the most magical since the fillets are 'cooked' not by heat but by the acidity of lime juice which turns them just as opaque. Many fish are suitable for the treatment, but choose for freshness rather than superiority of status.

Scallops, especially the tiny bay scallops, are magnificent. Sole and the better flounders are an obvious choice, so is sea ba.s.s or striped ba.s.s or grouper or pompano. Wild trout do well, and so do small whiting. In Central America, oily fish of the mackerel tribe (p. 221) find themselves in cebiche.

The basic proportions are: 500 g (1 lb) scallops or or filleted, skinned fish filleted, skinned fish or or a mixture a mixturejuice of 67 limessalt2 bay leaves1 hot red chilli or or chilli flakes chilli flakes1 medium onion, sliced Cut the fish into neat strips or pieces, or, if the scallops are large, slice them across into 2 or 3 discs. Put them in a refrigerator box, fitting closely. Remove the fine green peel from the limes with a zester and keep for a final decoration. Squeeze the limes. Sprinkle the fish with salt, tuck in the bay leaves, put the chilli or chilli flakes on top with the onion. Pour over the lime juice. Cover and leave in the refrigerator until the fish is completely opaque, turning it once. This can be as little as 2 hours or as much as 5, depending on the thickness of the pieces.

The seviche can now be arranged as simply or grandly as the occasion demands, once the fish is drained: (1) since the dish has Polynesian origins, try the Tahiti style of cover ing it with about 300 ml (10 fl oz) coconut milk, mixed with a finely chopped clove of garlic and a couple of chopped spring onions.

(2) arrange it with some greenery, tomato and purple onion rings, with a few olives. Since a bitter contrast is a good idea, use curly endive, or mix rocket in with other sweeter greenery, or scatter the whole thing with chopped green coriander leaves.

Instead of olives, try sliced canned jalapeno chillis, or some strips of roasted, skinned sweet pepper.

(3) arrange more formally on a large dish with contrasting soft and crisp vegetables; avocados dressed with an olive oil and lime juice vinaigrette (those tiny avocados you sometimes see are ideal); slices of different coloured sweet peppers whether raw or roasted and skinned; different coloured sweetcorn, either the very small ones, or larger ones cooked and sliced across; celery or fennel; sweet potato, cooked and sliced; hard-boiled egg; a few slices of orange; sliced jalapeno chillis or sc.r.a.ps of hotter chillis.

Do not use all these things at once, or the fish will be overwhelmed.

SEA Ba.s.s, SEA PERCH & GROUPERS.

Percichthyidae & Serranidae spp. spp.

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To walk into the fishmonger's and see a tray of sea ba.s.s is a beautiful sight. Their scales, arranged in exact gradation of colour, shine with silver and dark grey markings. Their shape is slim and elegant. I find that the white flesh can be a little on the soft side, and for this reason prefer them baked or cooked in a crisp style, rather than poached in white wine or court bouillon. The ba.s.s, or spigola spigola, is a great speciality of Naples. When very fresh, it is simply stuffed with garlic and a chopping of herbs, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with crumbs, and baked in the oven. Olive oil and lemon juice are used for basting. For a ba.s.s which is not so newly arrived from the water, an interesting stuffing should be added to the simple formula. Alice B. Toklas's recipe for Carp with chestnuts, on p. 70 p. 70, can be adapted to it most successfully, but be sure to leave the chestnuts in a crumbly state; if reduced to a puree they make the mixture too heavy.

Many fish recipes recipes for sole (Florentine or meuniere for the smaller fish), recipes for salmon, bream, John Dory and so on can be used for ba.s.s, although, as I've observed, a little vigour is preferable to a bland mildness.

The ba.s.s we normally see is only one of a huge family of fish, the Serranidae Serranidae or sea perches. It includes the groupers, which unfortunately have a marked preference for the warm seas of the Caribbean and Mediterranean. In the or sea perches. It includes the groupers, which unfortunately have a marked preference for the warm seas of the Caribbean and Mediterranean. In the Mediterranean Seafood Mediterranean Seafood, Alan Davidson comments on the superiority in firmness and flavour of the dusky sea perch or grouper over the generality of the Serranidae Serranidae. It is apparently imported from time to time, so look out for it. The Latin name Epinephelus gigas Epinephelus gigas gives you a clue to its appearance, as Alan Davidson observes; the first word means 'with clouds upon it', which is a good description of the dark patches blurring the yellow or reddish-brown of the skin. Groupers have chameleon-like qualities, with Na.s.sau grouper apparently capable of eight different colourings. gives you a clue to its appearance, as Alan Davidson observes; the first word means 'with clouds upon it', which is a good description of the dark patches blurring the yellow or reddish-brown of the skin. Groupers have chameleon-like qualities, with Na.s.sau grouper apparently capable of eight different colourings.

These firmer fish can be treated like turbot and John Dory. Alan Davidson gives one particularly unusual and piquant recipe, a Spanish one, for grilled or fried steaks of grouper with orange sauce, really a sauce bigarade. He also recommends the following recipe.

MeROU AU BRESSE BLEU.

Serves 66 slices grouper (or turbot, halibut, monkfish, etc.) from 150200 g (57 oz) eachseasoned flourclarified b.u.t.ter*1 baby Bresse Bleu cheese1 litres (2 pt) fish veloute*3 egg yolkssalt, pepper (see (see recipe recipe) The slices should be even and well trimmed. Flour and cook them a la meuniere in the clarified b.u.t.ter. Grate the cheese and work it over a low heat in a small pan until it turns to a paste. In another pan heat the veloute sauce, thicken it with the egg yolks and add the cheese paste. Season if necessary. Put the fish slices into a b.u.t.tered ovenproof dish, in a single layer, and cover with the sauce. Glaze in a hot oven for a moment or two.

The recipe came originally from Monsieur Max Maupuy of the Restaurant Max in Paris. He also suggests serving merou, poached in a court bouillon* and left to cool, with a choice of two sauces. The first is Rougaille, which is simply the drained chopped flesh of 1 kg (2 lb) of tomatoes, chilled and mixed with a tablespoon of strong French mustard, and seasoned. The second consists of half a baby Bresse Bleu cheese mixed with a generous 450 ml (15 fl oz) of double cream, and pa.s.sed through a fine sieve; the seasoning is a pinch of cayenne pepper. Serve the sauce cold but not chilled.

SEA Ba.s.s ANISETTE.

Serves 41 kg (2 lb) sea ba.s.s filletsPernod-flavoured mayonnaise*3 heads fennel125 g (4 oz) b.u.t.tersaltMARINADE teaspoon coriander leaves, chopped teaspoon ground mace8 peppercorns, slightly crushed6 tablespoons olive oil Leave the fish in the marinade for 3 hours before cooking it. Make the mayonnaise. Slice up the fennel, putting one-third aside. The rest can either be served as a salad with vinaigrette dressing, or it can be blanched in boiling salted water for 10 minutes, then cooked gently in 6090 g (23 oz) of b.u.t.ter until soft I think the second way is best if the fish is being eaten hot.

b.u.t.ter a grill pan, lay the reserved fennel on it, then the fish fillets (dispense with the grill rack) which should be cooked under a medium-hot grill for 7 or 8 minutes a side. Sprinkle with salt.

Serve the fish immediately with the cooked fennel and the Pernod-flavoured mayonnaise; with new potatoes as well if you like. Or leave it to cool, and serve it with the fennel salad and the mayonnaise.

SEA Ba.s.s OR BREAM a LA VENDANGEUSE.

The name of this dish ba.s.s in grape-picker's style isn't the fancy of some Parisian chef. It reflects the reality of a land where, in many districts, the ordinary person's food is still genuinely local. Main items such as meat and fish are cooked with what is to hand. So in September and October, after a day in the vines, pickers will go home with a basketful of grapes. Grape-picking is an affair of sweat and ribaldry. No autumn melancholy in the air, but the shrieks of women pickers trying to bring some young man to his knees as they pile more and more grapes into his huge shoulder basket. He escapes at last, leaves and fruit in his ears, and staggers to the press.

Serves 4611 kg (23 lb) sea ba.s.s or or sea bream (or John Dory or grey or red mullet) sea bream (or John Dory or grey or red mullet)125 g (4 oz) b.u.t.ter1 large mild onion, chopped2 cloves garlic, choppedbouquet garnisalt, pepper300 ml (10 fl oz) dry white wine250375 g (812 oz) large white grapes30 g (1 oz) plain flourjuice of lemonchopped parsley Ask the fishmonger to clean and scale the fish, but to leave the head on. Using 60 g (2 oz) of b.u.t.ter, grease an oval dish large enough to hold the fish. Make a layer of onion and garlic, put the bouquet in the middle, and the fish on top. Season well. Pour over the wine. Bake in a hot over (gas 7, 220C/425F) for 20 to 25 minutes, until the fish is cooked. Meanwhile peel and pip the grapes, and mash the flour into a paste with 30 g (1 oz) of b.u.t.ter.

Transfer the cooked fish to a serving dish, and strain the juices into a saucepan. Bring to simmering point, and add the beurre manie in small k.n.o.bs, stirring it into the sauce to thicken it. Season with lemon juice, and more salt and pepper if necessary. Keeping the sauce below the boil, beat in the last 30 g (1 oz) of b.u.t.ter (this gives the sauce a delicious flavour, and a beautifully glossy appearance). Add the grapes, still keeping the sauce below boiling point, and leave for 1 minute, then pour round the fish. Scatter chopped parsley on top. Make sure that the plates are very hot, and whatever you do, don't overcook the fish. don't overcook the fish.

NOTE This is a homely recipe for fish with grapes. Turn to This is a homely recipe for fish with grapes. Turn to p. 380 p. 380 for the more elegant sole with grapes, Sole Veronique. I'm not implying a preference each dish has its place and occasion. Or to for the more elegant sole with grapes, Sole Veronique. I'm not implying a preference each dish has its place and occasion. Or to p. 296 p. 296 for Rougets Barbets a la bourguignonne with the vine leaves and grapes. for Rougets Barbets a la bourguignonne with the vine leaves and grapes.

SEA Ba.s.s IN A PASTRY CASE (Bar en croute) One of the pleasures of Normandy in the late sixties and early seventies was staying at the Hotel de la Marine on the edge of the Seine under the great curve of the Pont Tancarville. As the sun set and the lights went on the scene took on the n.o.ble simplicity of a j.a.panese woodcut. And there was dinner, cooked by Monsieur Morisse and including dishes like this one, to look forward to.

This recipe can be used for other fish, grey mullet for instance, or a freshwater fish. Soft roes can be included in the stuffing.

2 kg (4 lb) ba.s.s, skinned and filleted60 g (2 oz) b.u.t.tersalt, pepper750 g (1 lb) puff pastrybeaten egg, to glazeSTUFFING100 g (3 oz) unsalted b.u.t.ter6 tablespoons chopped shallots60 g (2 oz) mushrooms, chopped100 g (3 oz) 2-day-old breadcrumbsa little milk2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped23 tablespoons chopped parsley1 tablespoon chopped chervil1 egg, beaten Cook the fillets on both sides in the b.u.t.ter just to stiffen them. Season them and leave them to cool.

For the stuffing, cook the b.u.t.ter, shallots and mushrooms together until they are soft, but not browned. Moisten the breadcrumbs with milk, using very little and squeezing out any surplus. Add them to the pan, mix well and turn everything into a basin. Add the chopped eggs and the herbs, and mix in the raw egg to bind the mixture.

Roll out just under half the pastry and put it on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Place a ba.s.s fillet on top, skin-side down. Put the stuffing on top and then the second fillet, skin-side up. Trim the pastry to leave a 1-cm (-inch) rim and brush the rim with beaten egg.

Roll out the remaining pastry and cover the fish with it, pressing the edges down together. If your fancy takes you, shape the pastry to make a fish complete with head. Score it lightly with scales, mouth and eyes. Brush it over with beaten egg. Chill it for at least 45 minutes, or up to 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to gas 7, 220C (425F). Bake the fish for 2535 minutes, until the pastry is well risen and brown. Serve with sauce Choron*.

SEA Ba.s.s WITH TARATOR SAUCE (Samak tarator) From Claudia Roden's cla.s.sic Book of Middle Eastern Food Book of Middle Eastern Food comes a tremendous dish which is particularly popular in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. In those countries, it is usually served with lavish decorations in a variety of bright colours and traditional designs. In France, the decorations are generally more traditional. comes a tremendous dish which is particularly popular in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. In those countries, it is usually served with lavish decorations in a variety of bright colours and traditional designs. In France, the decorations are generally more traditional.

'Choose a large fish such as sea ba.s.s, bream or John Dory. Clean and wash it. Leave the head on but remove the eyes. Rub all over with salt, pepper and olive oil, and bake in an oiled baking dish (45 minutes for a 11 kg (23 lb) fish at gas 3, 160C/325F) or wrapped in foil (an hour at gas 4, 180C/350F).

'Serve the fish on a large dish on a bed or parsley or lettuce. Decorate it with lemon slices, sliced green pickles, black olives, radishes, fried pine nuts or almonds, and pieces of pimento. Make an oriental design, for example a criss-cross pattern. Serve cold, accompanied by bowls of tarator tarator sauce', sauce', see see p. 45 p. 45.

'A delightful version of this dish is boned fish tarator tarator. Prepare the fish and bake it in foil. Allow to cool. Cut off the head and tail neatly and set aside.

'Skin the body of the fish and bone the flesh. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place the boned fish on a large serving dish, patting it back into its original shape. Place the head and tail at each end and mask the whole body of the fish with tarator tarator sauce. sauce.

'Serve decorated with whole pine nuts or almonds, lightly fried, pickles, olives, and whatever else you like.

'This method of boning and rea.s.sembling the fish is particularly useful if dealing with a very large fish that does not fit into the oven. It can be cut into manageable pieces instead, and then baked in foil as usual.'

SEA BREAM & PORGY Sparidae spp. spp.

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The French have daurade daurade or or dorade, pageau, pagre dorade, pageau, pagre and and dente dente. The Spaniards besugo besugo and and denton denton. And sometimes you may see the pandora pageau pageau imported from Greece under the name of imported from Greece under the name of lithrini lithrini, which is confusing if you try to look it up in a general cookery book. Undoubtedly, the spread of the sea breams is worldwide. In j.a.pan it is the most prized of holiday fish in the form of the tai tai or red sea bream. Unfortunately for Pacific-coast Americans, I gather that an inferior species is sometimes sold under the honourable name of or red sea bream. Unfortunately for Pacific-coast Americans, I gather that an inferior species is sometimes sold under the honourable name of tai tai a typical trick of the sharp food trade, akin to advertising margarine with pictures of cows knee-deep in summer meadows. a typical trick of the sharp food trade, akin to advertising margarine with pictures of cows knee-deep in summer meadows.

In one form and another sea bream swim up and down the American Atlantic coast under the cheerful names of porgy and, occasionally, scup. Both come from the same Narragansett Indian word, mishcuppauog mishcuppauog, the plural of mishcupp mishcupp which means thick-scaled, something you will understand if you have ever prepared a sea bream yourself. A compiler of a mid-nineteenth century dictionary of Americanisms was quite taken with the odd humour of the thing: 'It is singular that one half the original name, scup, should be retained for this fish in Rhode Island, and the other half, paug, changed into paugi or porgy, in New York.' Another member of the family is the sheepshead. It has a mild sort of look, but for a fish very strong teeth a bit like a sheep's incisors, and it crunches up the barnacles and crustaceans that it likes to eat. It is a good fish for poaching. In Louisiana they serve it with a creamy egg sauce. You might try it, too, with one of the hot sea-urchin sauces on which means thick-scaled, something you will understand if you have ever prepared a sea bream yourself. A compiler of a mid-nineteenth century dictionary of Americanisms was quite taken with the odd humour of the thing: 'It is singular that one half the original name, scup, should be retained for this fish in Rhode Island, and the other half, paug, changed into paugi or porgy, in New York.' Another member of the family is the sheepshead. It has a mild sort of look, but for a fish very strong teeth a bit like a sheep's incisors, and it crunches up the barnacles and crustaceans that it likes to eat. It is a good fish for poaching. In Louisiana they serve it with a creamy egg sauce. You might try it, too, with one of the hot sea-urchin sauces on p. 482 p. 482, or something similar flavoured with the coral of scallops.

To the British the idea of porgy is familiar but mysterious. They know the cheerful ballad that begins: My father was the keeper of the Eddystone Light,Who slept with a mermaid one fine night,And of that union there came three A porpoise, a porgy and the other was me.

You may recall that the porgy ended up in a chafing dish, presumably being pan-fried, which is the best fate for this kind of fish when it comes in small sizes. Try the American style of dipping the fish in egg beaten with twice its volume of milk, then roll them in a mixture of equal quant.i.ties of cornmeal, flour and cornflour. Pan-fry them in oil or bacon fat and serve them with lemon and parsley.

What I cannot recommend is the false sea bream displayed on some fish counters. A confident ticket is stuck usually into large fillets 30 cm (1 foot) long displaying a skin of pink and silver light, the tones of the skirt of Velasquez' Infanta. Do not be deluded. This is a most ordinary fish, one of the Sebastes species and not a true sea bream at all. Other names for it are Norway haddock or ocean perch. It is all right. It is dull. It is fish good for soup-making as a background flavour. No more than that.

I discovered this the hard way, in 1970. We had been to eat in London's first j.a.panese restaurant. The first experience of sashimi. And we had been told that the favourite j.a.panese fish for it was a red sea bream, the famous tai tai mentioned above. Next week I saw some fillets labelled 'bream' at the fishmonger's. Were they fresh, very fresh? I asked. The answer was yes. And I bought some. My sashimi was not a success: in fact it was repulsive because the texture was wrong the 'bream' was really Norway haddock. mentioned above. Next week I saw some fillets labelled 'bream' at the fishmonger's. Were they fresh, very fresh? I asked. The answer was yes. And I bought some. My sashimi was not a success: in fact it was repulsive because the texture was wrong the 'bream' was really Norway haddock.

This is not to say that true sea bream, as a general rule, are one of the world's greatest gastronomic treats. They are not, but some varieties like the gilt-head bream (the true daurade daurade, named for its golden colour) are very good. And even the more ordinary ones do not deserve to be confused with redfish. I once saw a sea bream in our Montoire market in France which stood out because of its colour. The consistent deep rose was astonishing, as brilliant almost as Zephirine Drouhin in full flower. It was irresistible, but I have to confess that the flavour, though pleasant, was not outstanding.

Perhaps the most sombre, mute-looking sheepshead would have been a better choice for dinner, in spite of its sad appearance. The five dark stripes that run down the skin from top to belly reminded people of prison uniforms and they called it convict fish: the skin is tough, too, and needs to be removed as a rule, especially for fillets. Otherwise, no special preparation is required apart from the obvious cleaning and scaling.

BAKED BREAM I (Besugo al horno) Here and in the next two recipes are versions of the Spanish way of cooking sea bream. They are all lively in flavour, especially the second and third recipes which depend on two particular techniques of Spanish cookery a majado majado being a pounded mixture of nuts much used in Catalan and Mediterranean cooking, and a being a pounded mixture of nuts much used in Catalan and Mediterranean cooking, and a sofrito sofrito being a blend of onion, garlic and tomato slowly fried to a puree. Both can be used on their own, as in these recipes, or as the basis or flavouring of sauces, soups and stews. being a blend of onion, garlic and tomato slowly fried to a puree. Both can be used on their own, as in these recipes, or as the basis or flavouring of sauces, soups and stews.

Serves 41 kg (3 lb) sea bream, cleaned, scaled1 small lemonsalt, pepperolive oil500750 g (11 lb) potatoes or or 2 large onions 2 large onions3 large cloves garlic, sliced8 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbsleaves of 1 small bunch of parsley, chopped Preheat the oven to gas 7, 220C (425F). Choose a gratin dish that will take the bream comfortably on its bed of potatoes or onions.

Slash the plumpest part of the bream three times on each side of the backbone. Slice the lemon so that you have enough thin slices to tuck into the slashes and 4 wedges to go with the finished dish. Season the bream and put the slices in place. Brush out the gratin dish with oil.

Peel and slice the potatoes or onions. Plunge the slices into rapidly boiling salted water until they are half-cooked, then drain them and spread them out in the dish. On top lay the bream, trying not to dislodge the lemon slices on the under side.

Heat 175 ml (6 fl oz) olive oil in a small pan and fry the garlic until it is pale brown and the oil well flavoured. Mix breadcrumbs and parsley and add the lukewarm oil through a strainer. Spread this mixture over the bream. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the fish is cooked. Serve with the lemon wedges.

BAKED BREAM II (Besugo al horno) Serves 4bream as in Baked bream 1 above or 2 smaller bream, cleaned, scaledolive oil1 lemon, cut into slices and wedges, as abovesalt, pepper125 ml (4 fl oz) dry white wineMAJADO3 ripe firm tomatoes, medium to large size4 large cloves garlic in their skins23 tablespoons blanched, slivered almonds12 tablespoons pine kernels125 ml (4 fl oz) dry white wineleaves of about 10 sprigs parsleysalt, cayenne, paprika Preheat the oven to gas 7, 220C (425F).

Start by preparing the majado. Brush out a small oven dish with oil and in it put the whole tomatoes and garlic. Bake in the oven until the skins darken, about 20 minutes. Peel and cut up and seed the tomatoes. Skin the garlic. Put the almonds into the oven on a baking sheet and leave briefly until they are a pale toasty colour. Put all these items, with the pine kernels, into a processor or mortar and reduce to a puree with the aid of the white wine. Add the parsley (roughly chopped if you are using a mortar) and seasoning to taste.

Choose a gratin dish that will hold the bream comfortably but rather more closely than for the recipe above. Brush it out with oil. Slash the bream and put lemon slices into the cuts; season. Put into the dish, pour over the wine and bake for 1015 minutes, depending on size. Spoon the majado over the fish, lower the heat slightly and complete the cooking 2030 minutes basting occasionally.

Serve with the lemon wedges.

BAKED AND STUFFED SEA BREAM (Besugo relleno al horno) This is a recipe for the neat-fingered, though the characteristic structure of the bream makes the business of boning it much easier than you might have supposed. Obviously the larger the fish, the better. For this recipe buy one large bream rather than two smaller ones: 1 kg (3 lb) will give you plenty for four. Ask the fishmonger to clean out the innards via the gills, leaving the belly intact. He should also scale the fish.

Serves 41 sea bream weighing 1 kg (3 lb)olive oilsalt, pepper125 g (4 oz) chopped onion2 large cloves garlic, skinned, crushed, finely chopped500 g (1 lb) ripe firm tomatoes, skinned, seededleaves of 1 small handful of parsley, chopped1 small hot chilliSTUFFING: see squid stuffing squid stuffing, p. 406 p. 406 Put the bream on a board. With a small sharp knife, cut along the dark central line that runs from head to tail down the centre of the body. Ease away from this cut up towards the top of the fish, then towards the bottom, sc.r.a.ping and cutting the flesh from the bones. Snip the backbone at head and tail ends, and draw it out the tricky part. The bream is now a floppy pocket, ready to be stuffed. Brush a baking dish with olive oil and put the fish into it. Season and set aside.

Next make the sofrito which acts as sauce. It is best to use an earthenware dish so that everything cooks slowly; with gas and electric, it is wise to slip a heat-diffuser beneath it. In the dish, cook the onion and garlic gently in enough oil to cover the base. As they become tender, add the tomato, parsley and chilli. Cook to an unwatery puree, tasting from time to time and removing the chilli when the sofrito is piquant enough. Add seasoning, too.

Meanwhile, make the stuffing and fill the bream pocket. Skewer the cut edges with wooden c.o.c.ktail sticks, leaving them slightly apart to show the stuffing.

Spoon the sofrito round the fish and bake as in the recipes above. If need be, protect the top of the bream with b.u.t.ter papers, and baste the fish occasionally.

FILETS DE DORADE a L'ANTILLAISE I was surprised to read this recipe in a local French newspaper, as rum in the kitchen is usually kept for sweet things, chocolate desserts in particular. I tried it and everyone like it. The secret is not to overdo the rum. (I'm not sure how genuinely West Indian the recipe is, or whether the t.i.tle is just a genuflection by some French cook to the source of the most powerful ingredient.) Croakers and drums, and other lively tasting white fish, adapt well to this treatment.

Serves 66 fillets of sea bream, porgy, etc.4 tablespoons rumsalt, pepper, cayenne4 tablespoons b.u.t.ter250 ml (8 fl oz) creme fraiche or or mixed soured and double or whipping cream mixed soured and double or whipping cream2 large egg yolks Preheat the oven to gas 67, 200220C (400425F). Choose a dish into which the fillets fit closely in a single layer; rub it out with a b.u.t.ter paper.

Trim the fish, skin it if you like, or if you are cooking sheepshead fillets. Pour the rum over, season and leave for at least an hour.

Dot the fish with the b.u.t.ter and bake for about 20 minutes, or until just done.

Meanwhile, make the sauce by beating together the cream (s) and egg yolks in a basin over barely simmering water or directly over a low heat if you are confident with egg sauces. Season, especially with cayenne. Spoon any juices from the cooked fish into the sauce and then pour the whole thing over the fish.

The original recipe had a garnish of puff pastry crescents, but that seems to me fussy and out of place. Pasta with a light finish of chopped green coriander seems a better idea.

PEBBLE-ROASTED FISH (Horoku-yaki) This is a most attractive and healthy way of cooking fish. I would suggest however that you try it out first with some cheaper fish than sea bream, to see how well you manage it.

Attend first of all to your equipment. You need a large shallow pottery or metal dish of agreeable design, filled with a tight layer of well-washed pebbles the size of large cherries. On some beaches you will find banks of even-sized round grey stones, and they are ideal. The next item, though not essential, is a handy pine tree. Pick and rinse enough small branches of pine needles to cover the stones, with some left over. Lastly cut a piece of foil that will be large enough to cover and balloon up over the dish.

Serves 63 sea bream, each weighing about 375 g (12 oz), scaledsea salt6 huge prawns or or langoustines langoustines12 large mussels, scrubbed, sc.r.a.ped12 fresh shiitake, stems removed or or other mushrooms other mushroomsSAUCE3 tablespoons lemon juice3 tablespoons soy sauce3 tablespoons dashi or or chicken broth chicken broth8-cm (3-inch) piece white radish, peeled, shredded hair-fine10-cm (4-inch) length Welsh or or spring onion, sliced spring onion, sliced If they have not been cleaned by the fishmonger, remove the innards of the sea bream through a cut made to one side. On the same side, slash the fish three times in the thickest part. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of salt over them and leave at least 30 minutes.

De-vein the prawns or langoustines, removing the heads if they are very large, but leaving the sh.e.l.ls in place; put with the mussels. Slice the mushrooms thickly.

Put the dish of pebbles into a cold oven, then switch it on to gas 8, 230C (450F). Leave at least 15 minutes, or until the temperature is well set. Take out the dish, scatter on the pine branches and put the bream on top, slashed sides down. Put the remaining items round them quickly and decoratively. Encase your hands in oven gloves and fix the foil in place, pressing it tightly round the edge of the dish, and ballooning it up so that it clears the contents.

Put the whole thing back into the oven. Leave for 6 minutes, then check and remove the mussels which should be open, and the prawns or langoustines if they are cooked: keep them warm. Re-cover the dish and put back for about another 8 minutes, until you judge the fish is ready.

Meanwhile mix the sauce ingredients together, and divide between six little bowls.

Remove the dish from the oven, discard the foil and, using kitchen tongs, replace any unsightly pine needles with fresh ones. Put back the mussels and prawns or langoustines and serve immediately.

In j.a.pan, Horoku-yaki would be accompanied by soup and a salad dish. Usually it is served in winter-time, but the method fits in well with our own style of summer eating with or without pine needles.

SALT-GRILLED SEA BREAM (Tai Shioyaki) When I wrote Fish Cookery Fish Cookery in 1971 and 1972, it seemed necessary to apologize for the eccentricity of including a few j.a.panese recipes such as this one. Then came the new cookery, and j.a.panese and Chinese ideas were effortlessly incorporated into the French repertoire: now they are taken for granted. Sashimi ( in 1971 and 1972, it seemed necessary to apologize for the eccentricity of including a few j.a.panese recipes such as this one. Then came the new cookery, and j.a.panese and Chinese ideas were effortlessly incorporated into the French repertoire: now they are taken for granted. Sashimi (see the following recipe) has perhaps been the most noticeable newcomer. Another has been the cooking of chicken and fish in mounds of coa.r.s.e sea salt. Recently I was offered a leaflet of such recipes in Britanny, when buying a bag of sea salt near Guerandes, at the back of La Baule. Nothing was said to indicate that the recipes were anything other than local, yet I have never found such a thing in earlier Breton cookery books, only in Chinese ones. It is easy to understand that the owners of the last saltings, coming by chance upon such a recipe in a smart cookery magazine, seized on it with rapture since it makes use of such a quant.i.ty of his declining product. the following recipe) has perhaps been the most noticeable newcomer. Another has been the cooking of chicken and fish in mounds of coa.r.s.e sea salt. Recently I was offered a leaflet of such recipes in Britanny, when buying a bag of sea salt near Guerandes, at the back of La Baule. Nothing was said to indicate that the recipes were anything other than local, yet I have never found such a thing in earlier Breton cookery books, only in Chinese ones. It is easy to understand that the owners of the last saltings, coming by chance upon such a recipe in a smart cookery magazine, seized on it with rapture since it makes use of such a quant.i.ty of his declining product.

For that particular system of cooking with salt, turn to p. 367 p. 367. This recipe uses rather less. A number of fish are suitable for salt-grilling, but the j.a.panese use it especially for the particular sea bream known to them as tai tai. They regard tai tai as a special and superior fish, the lucky fish to be eaten on ceremonial occasions, since it sounds like as a special and superior fish, the lucky fish to be eaten on ceremonial occasions, since it sounds like medetai medetai, meaning happy. 'This kind of symbolic pun... helps the j.a.panese in their quest for harmony with nature. To the j.a.panese, nothing on earth, even a common fish, can exist in isolation; everything must be accorded its rightful place in the universal scheme of things. All aspects of a creature, its soul, its colour and character, even its name, are duly honoured.'1 I like that idea. I like that idea.

Serves 63 sea bream each weighing approx. 500 g (1 lb) scaledunadulterated sea salt Make a cut below the pectoral fin and take out the innards: wash the cavity of each fish. Weigh them, then calculate two per cent of their weight in salt this will be something around 30 g (1 oz). Put the fish on a plate and pour the salt over them. Leave for 30 minutes at room temperature rather than in the refrigerator. Wipe the fish dry and free of salt just before grilling.

You can cook the fish at this point, protecting the fins and tail with bits of foil. Charcoal gives the best result about 4 minutes a side.