Freshly caught fish is just a wonder to behold. Shiny, bright eyed, firm flesh. You don’t need to muck about with it. If you have the opportunity to get hold of some fresh mackerel fillets, then this dish is easy to make, light on the pocket and served with a cucumber salad and a slice of wafer thin rye bread it’s almost too good to be true. Ask your fishmonger to fillet the fish. Life is too short.
4 mackerel fillets
1 large raw beetroot, peeled and grated.
1tsp coarse black pepper
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
40 gr sea salt
30gr white sugar
grated zest and juice of half a lemon
2 tbs good quality vodka (Zytnia if you can get it)
1 tbs chopped dillCrush the fennel seeds in a pestle and mortar. In a bowl, add pepper, salt, sugar, vodka, fennel, dill, zest and juice to the beetroot.
1 large raw beetroot, peeled and grated.
1tsp coarse black pepper
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
40 gr sea salt
30gr white sugar
grated zest and juice of half a lemon
2 tbs good quality vodka (Zytnia if you can get it)
1 tbs chopped dillCrush the fennel seeds in a pestle and mortar. In a bowl, add pepper, salt, sugar, vodka, fennel, dill, zest and juice to the beetroot.
Mix well. Line a ceramic dish with a double thickness of cling film. Lay 2 fillets in the dish. cover with half of the mixture. lay the remaining two fillets on top of the first two and cover with the rest of the beetroot.
Tightly wrap with clingfilm. Place two cans of tomatoes on top of the fillets and refrigerate for at least two days.
When ready to serve, unwrap the parcels, get rid of any liquid and pat dry. Slice on the diagonal. Pretty as anything and totally divine. If you want to indulge, buy a bottle of Chablis Fourchaume, for just under twenty quid it’s not your regular plonk but sometimes you just have to indulge.
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