Fire planked fish

Autumn

Cooking is nothing more than a series of questions: ‘If I do it this way, what will the outcome be?’ At some stage you’ll get the answer. But, we’re afraid of the unknown; it’s just the way we are as people. We’re afraid of doing something differently from the way everyone else does it. We’re afraid of fire and of things getting burnt. I love this recipe because it challenges the norm; it puts us outside the area we feel comfortable in, and makes us think about food and cooking in another way, in the way we used to. It is a case of managing heat, if the fish doesn’t seem to be cooking you move it closer; if the fish catches fire, you put it out.

Serves 4

Ingredients

100g (3½oz) salt
2 tablespoons golden caster sugar
1 tablespoon crushed black peppercorns
2 teaspoons crushed fennel seeds
2 large fish fillets (such as trout, pollack or whiting), each about 500g (1lb 2oz)
1 large bunch of herbs, such as fennel, dill, parsley and bay (optional)
for the cooking
a wood fire
2 suitably sized planks of hardwood (at least 60–70cm/24–27in x 15–20cm/6–8in)
some string

Method

Before you begin cooking, you need to soak the first 30cm (12in) or so of each hardwood cooking plank in water for at least 2–3 hours. This will help to stop it catching fire.

To cook the fish, make a cure by combining the salt, sugar, black pepper and fennel seeds in a bowl. Lay the fish fillets side-by-side on a tray and scatter the cure evenly over the two fillets. Leave the fish in the cure for 45–60 minutes, then wash off the salt and pat the fish dry.

Once you’ve got your wood fire going nicely, lay one fillet on each wooden plank, with the thicker ends of the fillets closer to what will be the bottom of each piece of wood, along with equal amounts of the herbs, if using. Secure them in place with string.

Prop the planks, end up, around the base of a wood fire and let the gentle, smoky heat cook the fish, carefully tending and encouraging the heat to move over the fish, as evenly as you can. This sort of cooking will involve some thought and consideration, but it’s definitely worth the effort. Note: if the herbs catch fire, don’t worry – that’s called flavour, just put them out or let them burn out. If the plank catches fire, similarly, put it out. The fish is cooked when the flesh flakes apart. If the tail end of the fish isn’t quite ready at the same time as the lower, thicker part, cut the cooked section away and leave the remainder to finish off in the heat of the fire.

Serve your fish straight away with good bread, homemade mayonnaise, and a salad.

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