Fish & Shellfish

One of the benefits of a childhood spent in various parts of the world was that I experienced all sorts of different tastes early on. Children will often only eat fish as fish fingers, but fish fingers were not even available in the countries we lived in. Instead, we had fresh fish and shellfish, cooked carefully and with inspiration as my mother was extremely interested in food. It was only later at an English boarding school that I had the first shock of badly cooked fish which has put many people off for life; fortunately, not me. Many people who call themselves vegetarians actually continue to eat fish. My oldest daughter, whose favourite meal as a young child was roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, suddenly announced at the age of eleven that she was a vegetarian, but luckily she never gave up eating fish. Fish is never a burden to the stomach, it takes well to all kinds of sauces and goes beautifully with most vegetables. Its texture can thrill the senses and its flavour reach the peak of delicacy. I don’t think I could live without it.