The humane killing of fish is not only important from an ethical point of view but also makes a great deal of sense from an epicurean standpoint as the stresses endured by fish left to drown in air in the hold of a trawler, the river bank or the bottom of a bucket on a charter vessel, creates undesirable chemical compounds in the flesh that taint its final flavour.
The only way to effectively dispatch most fish is to hit it sharply across the top of the head and between the eyes with a priest, a length of wood with a piece of brass affixed to its end, though I have used an extended pen knife, sticks, stones, and even a milk bottle washed up on a beach to the same effect in the absence of the proper tool. The fish is killed before unhooking is attempted as any handling starts the stress process, the fish is administered a single sharp rap to the right spot. At this point certain fish with spiny fins, bass, zander and perch, etc, will extend all of them at once, all fish go rigid for a time and quiver. They are unconscious though, will not suffer and will certainly be dead within a few seconds. Very small fish can be more easily killed with a simple flick of the forefinger.
Eels are killed by decapitation with a cleaver — they may still move! — and gutting, which will finally render them motionless. Also be aware that eel blood is poisonous to mammals, a dozen drops of it injected into a vein will kill you stone dead so work carefully especially if you have open wounds on the hands, however both cooking and digestion renders the toxin harmless, so eel can be safely eaten both cooked and raw.
The following are recipes for British sea, game and coarse fish, a list that I will add to as and when I either create them, or find them.
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1. Sautéed Zander Fillets with Wild Parasol Mushrooms
Zander is a delicate white fleshed fish with a flavour and texture that rates amongst the very best of all. It is also very expensive on the open market, a luxury fish every bit as costly as wild salmon, the following dish for instance would cost £30 just for the fillets...!
The mushrooms are wild parasol mushrooms, also a very highly rated ingredient and expensive to buy, however they are common in Autumn in English hedgerows and woodland margins, in fact those used in the creation of this dish were found just off the Coventry Canal near where the zander were caught, hence the combination. They are also unmistakable, grow in groups of up to ten mushrooms, more usually three or four, are very large when mature and have very distinctive long spindly stems and shaggy brown and white caps. There are two varieties, the common parasol - does not stain when cut - and the shaggy parasol - stains pink when sliced - both as delicious as each other though it has been reported that the shaggy parasol can cause an allergic reaction and mild stomach upsets in sensitive people.
A meal for two
Two zander fillets from a pound and half to two pound fish
Two large cloves of garlic
Sliced parasol mushrooms, a handful per portion
Two TSP roughly chopped chives and parsley
Butter and olive oil
Salt and pepper
Prepare the fillets and pat dry, roll them in the herbs. heat the butter/oil mix and soften the sliced garlic, add the mushrooms and one minute later add the fillets to the pan on top of the mushrooms flesh side down. Do not stir. Put a lid on the pan and cook till the fish flesh is judged to be nearly done through, season and then flip the fillets and lightly brown the skin side.
Garnish and serve with a glass of chilled polish lager.
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Bass'n Chips
Bass is expensive, especially wild line caught bass which is prohibitively so - the reserve of millionaires and anglers so why anyone would want to make fish 'n' chips out of such a dainty may be beyond your comprehension, until that is, you have tried it. There's no need for us to be shy here , a good old fashioned fish 'n' chip supper properly cooked is a world class dish. This is a variation on the theme.
Bass has white flesh that is unlike that of cod and haddock, the latter being flaky and dissolving in the mouth and the former meaty and requiring a chew, so I prepare and fillet the very fresh fish taking care to remove the pin bones in the flanks with pliers and then cut the fillets into egg sized chunks, dip them in a simple beer batter and then fry in a wok full of hot vegetable oil and when cooked to a light golden brown, drain well on loads of kitchen roll lining a colander. Don't put too many chunks in the wok at a time as you'll get a disaster waiting to happen, on your hands!
The chips are made from whatever is your favourite chipping spud, mine being King Edwards or Maris Piper. The chips are deep fried by plunging them into hot oil that only just covers them on a rolling boil (which means starting off with rather less oil than you might think) and then leaving them well alone until they just begin to appear lightly cooked on the top side and are quite firm and stiff enough to be handled without breaking up, then give the whole lot a flip over and a stir and serve as soon as they appear a light golden brown.
Some mayonnaise and a green leaf salad of choice with crusty white bread and a bottle of ice cold quality reisling is everything else you need.
