Conger Eel Bake

For all the trend toward fish cooked à point – just pink along the bone – and mi-cuit half-cooked – especially for steaks of best salmon and fillets of fine flat fish such as Dover sole, brill and turbot – nothing can beat a long slow braise for rich flavour and plush texture. This is admirably suited to the much neglected conger eel.

Mr Crispin, who runs a fish and greengrocery shop in Kingsbridge, Devon, recommends the regional, south-western way of