07/03/2007

Fish – Claire Macdonald (Bantam Press, £25)

With the continuing depletion of the Scottish fishing fleets, it’s great to see a Scottish chef fighting for the fantastic variety and quality of fish caught of the Scottish coast. And, Claire Macdonald is an obvious person to voice that support. For decades she has been producing the best examples of what can be done with good Scottish produce at Kinloch Lodge and travelling the world to enthuse about localism and the importance of judicious sourcing.

Fish is the first book Claire has produced on piscine matters for more than 20 years and she works hard to show the reader what she has learnt in that time. A short introduction guides you through buying and preparing different types of fish, before diving into the recipes. It’s a serious cook’s book – glossy photos are limited and vastly outnumbered by the collection of dishes, which are broken down into fish soups, first courses/savouries/lunch, main courses, special occasions, sauces/salsas and accompaniments.

The classic fish dishes are all here, with Claire keeping it simple to bring out the flavours of the fish: prawn cocktail, kedgeree, scrambled eggs with Arbroath smokies. She also brings her globetrotting palette to the table, however, and you can also find some exciting fish fusions, including baked cod with spiced lentil and coriander pesto; monkfish stir fried with peppers, lemongrass and ginger; and steam baked sea bass stuffed with cannellini beans.

Fish strives to present inspiring fish recipes for creative cooks – and it certainly achieves it.