Product Description

More than just a cookbook, this beautifully produced volume in three parts promotes a total understanding of British fish, from their natural habitats to what sauce they go best with to how to respect their seasonality, in keeping with the River Cottage ethos. The first part is dedicated to understanding fish - Hugh and Nick explain the ins and outs of procuring a good fish, discussing fish farming, aquaculture, sustainability and harvesting issues, how to buy and catch fish in an ethical way, and how to prepare it for the kitchen. Next they open up a whole world of fish cooking - pickling, salting, barbecuing, frying, potting, stewing, smoking and more are explained in depth, each technique followed by classic recipes from gravadlax to kedgeree, from sashimi to chip shop battered cod. Finally, Hugh and Nick present Britain's best fish by species, giving portraits with notes on seasonality and ecology, as well as listing the relevant recipes from part 2 with alternatives. "The River Cottage Fish Book" is the only book on fish that the adventurous fish lover will ever need. The ultimate guide to British fish that reveals everything from their natural habitats to cooking and preserving techniques to how to respect their seasonality.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #573 in Books
• Brand: Books
• Published on: 2007-11-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 608 pages

Financial Times
Does for marine life what his Meat Book did for our four-legged and feathered friends... with dozens of fine recipes.

Spectator
Simply the best and most comprehensive work on the subject I have read... a well-illustrated compendium to British fish, it is a great reference book and a good read.

Evening Standard
I wish the words `definitive' and `authoritative' weren;t so overworked, because they really do sum up this wonderful, entertaining book.

Customer Reviews

Sole trader
Great book to accompany a great series. Hugh isn't the cleanest looking cook around but he's certainly one of the most enthusiastic. My favourite scenes from the series were where he was cooking 'spoots' for the two clam divers. A hot pan, flash fried spoots, a sprinkling of paprika and they were won over! I just wanted to wash Hugh's hair and give him a big pat on the head.

Encyclopaedia and cookbook in one
Book is mostly aimed at people passionate about fish and cooking it and contains lots of information about fish, fishing practises etc. I personally was only looking for simple healthy recipes but I am still very happy with it. Was slightly disappointed with the number of recipes, however I love the description of each type of fish with comments on how best to cook this particular fish. With other cookbooks, you only have a dozen recipes for half a dozen types of fish, and are stuck if you have got anything that does not fit the list. Here, each recipe has suggestions on what other types of fish to use. And of course they know what they are talking about, it is all simple and elegant.

A Great book by a modern great.
This book contains everything you would ever need to know about seafood and a lot more. From how to open shell fish, how to fish for them, how to refrigerate/ freeze them. It is great as a reference book, but comes into its own as a cookbook.

Hugh is a magnificent chef some of the food I have cooked tasted amazing. With such simple recipes/ ingredients this book is a winner. Buy it now.

But make sure the fish is as fresh as possible and the fish is sustainabley caught

Thank you.