The Fish Store

Description

When her sons inherited their father's childhood home in a Cornish fishing village, once a commercial building for storing and packing pilchards, Lindsey Bareham thought it would be a nice idea to record some of the recipes and memories of this extraordinary place. It started as a notebook for her sons' eyes only, with lists of favourite ways of cooking mackerel, monkfish and sole and how to make mayonnaise to go with the gift of a handsome crab or crayfish, but then it took on its own momentum and became this very special book, full of recollections and anecdotes and fabulous holiday food. Although the setting is of course English, Bareham's recipes take in influences from all over the world, including Portugal (Portuguese Cabbage Soup with Rosemary Bruschetta), Italy (Red Mullet Wrapped in Parma Ham with Garlic and Rosemary) and Turkey (Spiced Aubergine Salad with Cumin). Nor, despite the location, are her recipes completely devoted to matters piscine. Chapters on eggs, chicken, lamb, vegetables and, of course, puddings, sit alongside a wonderful collection of recipes for fish of all kinds. First published to much acclaim in hardback by Michael Joseph in 2006 but out of print for a number of year; this is the book's first appearance in paperback.

Lindsey Bareham started to cook seriously when she was asked to edit the restaurant section of Time Out. Over the years she's cooked most cuisines and most styles of food, learning as she went along. She wrote a daily after-work recipe for the London Evening Standard for eight years and currently writes the daily Dinner Tonight and Friday Masterclass for The Times T2. She also writes a monthly column for Saga Magazine. Author of twelve cookery books, her latest is Pasties, an appreciation and exploration of the Cornish pasty. Lindsey enjoys cooking imaginative, seasonal food with simple but explicit instructions, making real food accessible to the most inexperienced cook. Her speciality is turning ordinary ingredients into something special. Lindsey's style is relaxed and easy, encouraging her readers to get stuck in rather than regard good food as the preserve of chefs and foodies. As an ex-restaurant critic and shopping sleuth, with a greedy interest in food, she is forever trying out new ingredients and combinations of food but a traditional cooking background provides a good balance of classic and experimental.