Fish

Fish is such a wonderful food to cook: nothing in terms of flavour or time needs to be overdone. Anything that is served with fish I think of as the pickle that goes in your cheese sandwich: it’s there to spice up the flavour and excite the tastebuds, but the taste of the Cheddar should always win through.

Different ways of cooking fish also give, obviously, a different feel and taste. Scallops, for example, just can’t be eaten any better than when seared in a hot pan and allowed almost to burn at the edges, while ensuring they have a moist medium-rare centre. They can also be steamed and poached, but the meat then has a totally different texture and won’t give off that caramelized, natural sweetness that is just sensational to eat.