“Fish Without Fear” is the title of Delia’s introduction to the art of cooking what a lot of people love eating but are afraid of preparing. It reminded me of a visit to see my grandfather in Zambia. He had vowed to teach me how to catch fish, and I was having a good time, until he told me that if I got a big bite I should be very careful, unless I wanted to find myself reeling in a crocodile. I yelped every time the line went taut from then on.
Delia has few words of advice for fishing on the Zambezi, but she does have a good beginner’s guide to cooking and preparing our scaly friends.
There are inconvenient gaps in my knowledge of fish. I know how to fillet one, and I am a dab hand at gutting fish for the braai (barbecue), but other than that, I’m a little clueless. Delia is useful for filling in the blanks – and, I’m sure, for helping a complete novice, too.
Her method for skinning is more easily applied than my grandfather’s: he was a doctor, and taught me to open the fish up from the middle, skinning it whole with great finesse and coordination. Or, in my case, to leave large scraps of skin on the fish while cutting myself into the bargain.
Delia’s method is to place the fish on a flat surface, grip the tail, and cut towards the head end with a sharp knife. This a considerably easier task than opening it up from the middle, as you are not peeling along a curve. The resulting fish is free of all but the smallest scraps of skin – and, more importantly, there are no scraps of Stephen to be picked out afterwards either.
On to boning. My grandfather, again, had a method that I found incredibly tricky; I’m beginning to suspect that he viewed catching and cooking fish as preparation for, rather than an escape from, his chosen profession. I can’t remember exactly how he did it, other than that I found it hard and unrewarding.
Delia has a genius method involving flattening the fish first and then removing the spine – which is much easier – before using tweezers to remove any leftover bones.
My preparation skill honed, I move on to skate: a fish that “people are scared of”, according to Delia. I’m not sure if this is because it’s difficult to prepare or because of how it looks. You wouldn’t want to meet one in a dark alley, but I’d still rather catch a skate than a crocodile.
Applying the Delia method, I quickly skin and bone my skate and fry it. I serve it with Delia’s tartare sauce, which is easy enough, provided you have a food processor and a steady hand to gently pour the oil in as you whiz it. I have a processor, but not, unfortunately, a steady hand. Still, after experimentation, I’ve found a way round for the clumsy – pour it in through a sieve, and you’ll get about the right speed.
Or just ask a passing doctor to do it: if there’s one thing Delia’s taught me this week, they like to do their cooking the hard way.
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Stephen Bush is cooking his way through Delia’s Complete How To Cook (BBC Books, £40) in a year. You can watch Delia Smith’s free Online Cookery School videos at deliaonline.com; @deliaonline
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Stephen Bush is a writer and columnist for the New Statesman; @stephenkb
