Fish and Seafood

Plaice, sole and haddock join the crustacea as some of the month’s best eating. Sea bass is a rare delicacy, steamed whole for a surprisingly short time – about 8 minutes for a 2 lb fish – then sprinkled Chinese-style with needles of fresh root ginger and spring onion and finely dribbled with soy sauce and smoking hot bland oil.

Assuming you are bored with lobster and crab mayonnaise, try a selection of filleted white or flat fish, poached briefly (seconds rather than minutes) in a fragrant stock with wine and herbs, then chilled in the fridge and served with good white bread, cold boiled young carrots and thick home-made mayonnaise beaten with garlic and handfuls of finely chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, chervil, tarragon and dill. Halibut, turbot, plaice and brill are particularly good treated in this way.