“I do not know that cocktail” was the reaction of a contact in New York after he heard of my plan to have a “cool John Dory with lime” after a late afternoon (for me) conversation. It is a fish. There are many competing explanations on why the fish is called that way in EnglishRead More
Fried smelt
I love fried small fish. We often go to a restaurant on the Dordogne river that serves “friture de poisson” and they are great. Just small river fish and garlic in hot oil. Civelles is also very nice but I tend to avoid that dish as the small eels will never get big and eelsRead More
Red Mullet fillets
On the French markets you can find two kinds of reddish fish that look similar apart from their size – the grondin or red gurnard and the rouget barbet or red mullet. The rouget is a small rock fish and is used in Mediterranean fish soups. With the rising sea temperatures it is also caughtRead More
Japanese-style fish soup with cockles and prawns
From time to time, I go to a Japanese shop in the area around the rue Sainte Anne in Paris, where there are many Japanese restaurants and travel agents. I stock up on some instant soups, seaweed, sesame, yuzu and dashi – a yellow soy paste. On the outdoor market in our village, the fishmongerRead More
Sole with clams and crushed potatoes
We often go to Dieppe and buy fresh fish there on the quay, walk around the market and have lunch in one of the many restaurants. A favourite place often serves “crushed potatoes’ as a side dish – cooked potatoes crushed with a fork and some cream for smoothness. Back home, I tried my versionRead More
Lobster on the BBQ
Lobster is a luxury ingredient because of its price. It is more expensive than prime beef and you can buy a whole lot of chicken for the same money. Or more than a week of vegetables. Lobster is also relatively rare. It is not threatened with extinction, yet, but it is fished with special cagesRead More
Marinated mackerel with herbs
One of the many specialities of restaurant along the Channel in France, as in Dieppe, are marinated mackerel which is eaten cold as a starter. They sometimes use small, young, mackerel called “Lisette” which is caught on lines that contain many hooks. At the local market here, the fishmonger had a few boxes of mackerelRead More
Cod, cabbage and chorizo
The other day the fishmonger’s had cod on sale, nice white chunks of cod loin fillet which are called “dos de cabillaud” here (cod’s back). The greengrocer’s was still in winter mode and had nice cabbages of which a took a green one. But because both the cod and cabbage can be bland in taste,Read More
Haddock, beetroot and octopus salad
I sometimes crave for smoked fish in France, like the mackerel or eel that I was used to in the Netherlands. There is some on the market but it is not they way I would like. There are some smoked fish products, however, that are hardly used in the Netherlands such as “bouffi” bloater –Read More
Sea bass fillet, fennel, sweet potato and crab sauce
Sea bass is a very pleasant fish. It has a delicate tasty white meat that needs hardly any seasoning, it has a nice bite and is not flaky as some other fish such as cod or coley. It is not cheap, especially when it is not farmed or fished in nets but by angling lines.Read More