Day 56: one for the unpracticed fish cook

I actually cooked this one a few days ago, but work has been so busy and I needed a break from my computer screen; I’m pretty sure I spent 90% of last week's waking hours on it. Anyway, now is as good a time as any to play catch-up and as it's Sunday - I know this will please you - I’m going to keep it short.

To eat more fish has always been a wish of mine and although I am not (or at least thought I wasn’t) that keen on it, I have wanted to cook more of it, but felt too scared in case I ruined it and all the hard honest work from tireless fishermen that went into sourcing it. It was therefore rather fitting to see a Fear-Free Fish Stew by Nigella in her latest masterpiece: Cook Eat Repeat.

Nigella’s Fear-Free Fish Stew

Considering I have little experience cooking with fish I was not quite sure what constitutes ‘firm white fish, so I took guidance from my fishmonger and he suggested barramundi. So barramundi is what I used and I also added a little bit of cod; two very different fishes I went on to find out.

I cut the cod chunky enough so that it didn’t fall apart and I also delayed its entry into the stew and let the barramundi cook for a minute or two first so that it remained whole and didn’t overcook and flake up.

This indeed was a fear-free fish curry; the sauce is done in advance and when it comes to cooking the fish, literally all you have to focus on is listening out for the timer.

Flavour musings

I recall enjoying a tomato-based fish stew when I was on holiday in Portugal as a child; it was very rustic and I think it included shellfish too. This reminded me of a slightly more spiced version of that and I think Nigella’s Fear-Free Fish Stew is an excellent base to build on with a variety of different fish and shellfish. After all, they each have their unique favours that will influence the final piece quite differently.

I enjoyed this, as recommended, with black Venus rice: a robust, nutty, chewy rice that I just adore and - coincidentally - it happens, for me, to be a fear-free form of rice. It takes a good 30-40 minutes to cook but it’s so robust that it holds its shape, texture and colour very well. It’s a rice I feel I won’t ruin and couldn't overcook (unless, of course, I left it to boil for hours), but in comparison to other starches - which can be sensitive to even a minute too long in the saucepan - it is relatively stress-free. Not that I am any good a guestimating quantities per person, but I do like to over-cater intentionally when I’m cooking this rice: it is brilliant in salads and added to soups and I’ve even frozen a cupful of it cooked to see how that turns out.

For the unpracticed fish cook, like me, Nigella’s Fear-Free Fish Stew takes the stress and anxiety out of cooking with fish; yielding perfectly tender chunks of white fish in a beautifully spiced tomato sauce.