Crayfish basted with basil butter
Crayfish and champagne have a lot in common. They cost too much and their joys have as much to do with the anticipation as the taking. I have always believed champagne tastes better in the mind than on the tongue.
It’s a most clever marketing wheeze. If champagne was flat and cheap nobody would have heard [...]
Crossed cultures and making stock
The bream looked terrific.
Bright of eye, red of gill, J.L something like a dasher at a fancy party. Down the back of the shop were the real workers, the cleaners of fish.
About the cleaners stood a rather excited bunch watching the last rites of a huge carp, not dead long, but dead all the same. [...]
Crab, for fun and flavour
You cannot be considered areally, truly, serious, fun- loving cook until you have attempted to cook a giant crab. They are so intimidating, so large, so handsome, so admirable and so wonderful to eat, so satisfying and such a joy to cook successfully.
Sardines, fried very simply, with lemon juice
If there are only a few of you, and not so many sardines, they are delicious pan-fried.
Sardines in the pan
1kg sardines, fresh as fresh
250g tin of peeled tomatoes, with no added sugar or salt — If it’s deep summer, use fresh Romas.
salt
few sprigs of rosemary 1-2 chillies, sliced finely black pepper
1
Clean the sardines by wiping away any scales under running water. Break off the head, and run your fingers down the guts, until there ain’t [...]
Raw sardines and a story of life
I can’t go past a fish shop without grabbing a handful of sardines. Some of that has to do with the fact you can get a feed of these little lovelies for not much more than half a dollar; most of it has to do with the absolutely stupendous flavour of the bright-eyed little fellows. [...]
Fish and Shellfish
Don’t be frightened by fish. Not so long back, you might have thought you needed to be a star in the kitchen to be able to handle the slinky creatures of the deep and not so deep. I say baaagh to that. Certainly it is not true to suggest that all fish are the same [...]
Leftover risotto
It’s getting to be a little confusing when the dish you make with the leftovers turns out to be just as attractive as its parent of the day before. But I suppose that’s how the pie’n’sauce came to be. Whenever we cook risotto, we throw enough rice into a pot to feed fifteen people, and [...]
Risotto for whisky lovers
Now for a dish for swells, or for those who have come into luck. It seems a remarkable mix — rice and whisky and crayfish —but it works wonderfully. The whisky seems to add guts to the crayfish, while surviving on its own; and yet it doesn’t affect the glories of the risotto. I pinched it from Bill Marchetti, the chef of Melbourne’s most popular Italian restaurant, the Latin. Marchetti, born in Germany of German-Italian parents, first saw this combination in the middle of Italy, liked it, filed it away, and serves it occasionally — usually to rave reviews.
Risotto with sardines
This is not absolutely faithful to classical risotto making, but more a case of me seeking as many ways as possible to utilise the unique qualities of this very under-rated and always cheap fish. The difference is that you cook the fish separately, fillet it yourself at the table, and toss it through the traditionally cooked risotto. It makes for a wonderful, hands on, hands in, community dish, and that’s the best part of eating anyway.