Product Description

Fish is currently the rockstar ingredient - prized for its healthy benefits - but there is still a lot of fear surrounding its preparation and cooking. Mitch Tonks' book breaks down that barrier by being a modern, approachable and comprehensive guide to buying, preparing and cooking fish and seafood.Global in outlook, a species-by-species breakdown will detail how to buy fish, where it is in season (including the different names fish are given globally to aid sourcing), how to prepare it and offer a selection of delicious recipe ideas.There is also a section on fish logistics, so readers understand what is good to buy frozen and how this fits the global resource message. With fishing methods and the issue of depleted stocks in sharp focus, Mitch also explains the paramount importance of eating fish in season.With reportage photography documenting Mitch's daily life on the docks of Brixham fishing port and peppered with stories and anecdotes from fishing communities, this book is a delight to read as well as an essential manual. Packed with over 100 delicious recipes and stunning food photography, it will tempt fish lovers the world over.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2379 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Review
'...Anybody with an interest in fish will find this book invaluable. And with its beautiful food photographs and scenic shots, it may be one for the coffee table too'. --BBC GOOD FOOD Magazine, April 2009 Issue

'Undoubtedly one of the most important books of the year, this fish bible boast fab photography, advice on seasonality and sustainability, as well as masterful recipes'. --Women & Home Magazine, April 2009 issue

'If there's a fishy fact that Mitch Tonks doesn't know, it's probably not worth knowing. This impressive book...includes a species guide, sections on seasonality and sustainability, and plenty of simple recipes. --Waitrose Food Illustrated, April 2009 issue

About the Author
Mitchell Tonks is the founder of the restaurant and fishmonger chain FishWorks. The are 12 shops and restaurants in London and around the UK, 3 cookery schools, 3 books, a range in the supermarkets and Mitch is currently working with Youngs as a consultant. He has also appeared on Saturday Kitchen and the BBC's BAFTA nominated Get Cooking broadband initiative. He contributes regularly to magazines including Delicious and Fresh and regularly demonstrates at major food shows around the UK. Mitch lives with his family in Brixham overlooking the fishing port and market. His previous titles are: The Seafood Cafe Cookbook (shortlisted for Andre Simon Award), Fresh - Great Simple Seafood (winner World Gourmand award) and The Aga Seafood Cookbook.

Customer Reviews

Fishtastic!
What a great book.

I love it. It is laid out in fish types, which makes it easy to find recipes for fish bought at my local fishmongers. The recipes are relaively simple. Certainly he does not over complicate recipes, so lets the fish be the star of the dish - perfect. It has helped me to broaden the different types of fish I eat.

There is also a lot of information on fishing and the fishing industry as well as sustainability.

A great recipe book as well as a great book on fish.

The pictures also help me to identify, what I have bought at the fishmongers, as they don't label things!

I'd recomend this anyone who loves fish but does not always know how to cook it and for anyone wanting more contemporary ways of cooking fish, that aren't overly fussy or overly complicated to do.

His best so far, and possibly one of the best of all
I have a lot of respect for writers of fish cookery books who have a real affinity for their key ingredient by being fishermen or fishmongers, and Mitch is both. On top of that, he is also a stylish restauranteur and he brings all four together in this highly readable, very contemporary, well designed, beautifully illustrated and informative book. It is more than a recipe book, although the recipes alone are excellent. It is also a treatise on fish as a food, the journey from sea to fork and everything you need to know, or would just be interested in, in between. I want to try every recipe, but first I want to read it cover to cover. What better accolade could a cookery book have? The recipes are arranged by species which is great for us anglers - we want to know what we can do with what we have brought home. It is also strong on environmental issues and sustainability, so we can consume that great health food, fish, with a relatively clear conscience. I think this book will compete strongly for my "favourite fish cooking book" - I recommend it highly for cooks and anglers, or both.

SUPER book from a self-taught fishmonger and chef
now successful restaurateur, which goes way beyond simply recipes.

And the opening page gives an indication that 'FISH, The Complete Fish and Seafood Companion' to give it its full title, is far more, as Mitch Tonks recalls fishy childhood memories alongside the photo of:-

'the skinny me holding a rod and a lovely mackerel'.

He goes on to say:-
..........'Fish and fishing is a complicated subject - even more so today because we have realized that it is a finite resource.
It's not just the tricky bones, the cooking times or wondering if something is fresh that puts people off.
It is understanding about the all-important issue of sustainability.
But this shouldn't deter the modern cook, as there's good news out there ....and this book to help....

So, why another book about cooking fish?
Mitch goes on to successfully address this very question.

......................'You may be thinking 'why another fish book?'.............................

I've taken a different approach with this book and have majored on the most widely eaten species.
I wanted to add to the magic of enjoying a piece of fish by:-

giving you some knowledge about where and how it was caught
the particular environmental issues associated with the species
a defined taste description for each fish
the seasonality of each fish as well as their international names

...and if you have ever wondered just how much fish you get per kilo when you buy it, and how many calories, how much fat and that all-precious omega-3 are actually in each fish, I've included that too....'

And all that is just from the two-page intro. which neatly sums up just why this book is such a great investment.

On the culinary side of life, the preparation and cooking of fish is not my strong point and I found this publication contained exactly the right information for me to expand my confidence in this area.
Of course, there is no doubt about it, it helps if you have got an understanding and reliable fishmonger who can do the preparation that some of us would rather not do.....like scaling, gutting and......er...... removing heads!

...'The way to use this book is to read through the front section, get yourself fully acquainted with the buying guide, and then enjoy cooking each species of fish.'..

Five shiny silvery-green sardines adorn the simple cover of this hardback book with 320 high quality pages, split into two:-

PART ONE - the main reference section ends on page 39 with a nutrient chart.

PART TWO - is subdivided into three sections:-

WHITE FISH (pages 43-191)
OILY FISH (pages 194-255)
SHELLFISH (pages 256-313)

with each section further divided into a particular fish and/or variety with the previously mentioned 'fishy' details along with interesting notes preceding the recipes, e.g.:-

Bream

'Gilt-Head Bream'

'This beautiful fish was once sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and you can see why. Its dark blue-grey body contrasts with a silver belly, its gill covers are edged in scarlet and black, and a crescent moon-shaped gold band runs from the forehead between black-ringed eyes.'

Eye-catching photography from by Chris Terry and illustrations from Richard Bramble of the fish featured, some 'on-location' shots, and a number of finished dishes, intersperse this chunky tome which is completed with a full index (including the illustrated dishes shown in italics).

Each recipe starts with a relevant opening note, the list of ingredients, the number of servings and a clearly laid out method along with 'a note to ask the fishmonger to do' (if you are lucky to have one reasonably local)!

The recipes are aimed at both the novice and the more accomplished cook and include:-

bream cooked en papillote with garlic, chilli and rosemary
grilled cod with caper and avocado butter
crisp fried slip soles with tartare sauce
baked grey mullet with dill and brandy
Thai fishcakes of haddock and prawns
halibut with Béarnaise sauce
goujons of lemon sole with fennel coleslaw
monkfish cooked as osso bucco
spaghetti with red mullet and tomato
sardines on toast
grilled tuna with pepperonata
my favourite seafood stew
pickled cockles
dressed crab

and my particular favourites:-

grilled salmon with watercress, capers and mint
red snapper curry served with garden fresh coriander
grilled herrings with devilled butter
mackerel tagine
steamed mussels with wine and parsley.....

.....and......

not forgetting... that extra-special luxury:-

lobster thermidor!

For me two great pages are 26 & 27 which show the 'eating parts' of a fish, and relevant notes on what you can do best with them, followed by the three simple ways of fish cooking techniques.

Generally, this is not only a great book to cook from but is also a really useful general reference.
Although the book is directed at the more well-known, some of the lesser used fish are given an airing, such as:-

coley, gurnard and ling........

and..... over a coffee, I managed to expand my rather sparse knowledge of the somewhat little known flatfish - 'megrim'!

'It's easy to say that cooking fish is simple when it's what you do for a living, but I started as a nervous fish cook and over the years I have mastered techniques and recipes for cooking seafood......'

A quote from a man who started off in a career in accountancy and changed paths to open his latest eating place - 'The Seahorse Restaurant', overlooking the river in Dartmouth, last year, offering (amongst other dishes):-

'fish to share from today's local landings served simply grilled over the charcoal fire in our style with herbs and garlic'.

...which helped to explain the title of the recipe on pages 306/307, which I initially thought was a new method of cooking scallops I had missed out on!

'Scallops Seahorse-Style
'The Seahorse' is the latest restaurant I have opened with my chef and great friend Mat Prowse and old school friend Mark Ely. It is a relaxed sort of place, that gives you the impression it has been there for years; it's nice and comfortable just as a restaurant should be. We do serve some local meat but in the main the restaurant is known for its great seafood, which is cooked over charcoal or just prepared simply according to the seasons and served unadorned, so our guests can appreciate the fabulous seafood that's caught just outside our door....'

This book is a tribute to memories revisited!