There was great excitement in the kitchen yesterday with the arrival of a 25 year old wild Scottish Halibut. This fever did not really register on the rest of us but then we did not know then what we know now. For a start, did you know the colder the water the tastier the fish? (No wonder Iceland can get a bit touchy fishy about its waters!) She came from the North Sea and landed at Fraserburgh harbour on the North East corner of Scotland, Simon Ward, from Wards Fishmongers on the Wirral, told me Paul Askew was one of less than a handful of chefs he knew that could cut and do justice to such a magnificent catch.
She arrived at 11.00am and by 2.30pm she was resting in pieces, with head and toe (sorry tail fin) in the stock pot. Wild Halibut is an unusual and fabulous fish for even more fabulous recipes; our last one came in at 18 stone two years ago. Unsurprisingly, halibut will be the special on The London Carriage Works menu for most of the week. Paul will be pan roasting fillets of the wild Scottish halibut and serving it with an English risotto of leeks, wild mushroom and barley.
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