Food for Thought: Whitby mackerel escabeche

Summer is here and so is the season for British mackerel. Mackerel is one of the few fish I eat without feeling guilty, it is sustainable, delicious and full of omega 3 oils. When fresh, you don’t need to do much with it, just a dusting of flour and sea salt and pepper, a sizzling pan, a good squirt of fresh lemon and voila! But I also love Mackerel escabeche. Escabeche is a Catalan word for pickling and the light use of vinegar and spices in this recipe elevates a mackerel fillet to a more outlandish sphere.

I grew up eating escabeche and later when I went to the States I discovered the very famous recipe for chicken Marbella. It is different but slightly similar in concept, taken from the first cookery book I ever bought , The Silver Palate Cookbook. Everyone loves this recipe, even Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman, where he plays a blind man, exclaims excitedly “Gretchen I smell those prunes! We talkin’ turkey Marbella?"

I went to Malton to the fishmongers the other day and they had the most beautiful mackerel caught that same day off Whitby. I couldn't resist, It cannot get more local than that! In this recipe I tried to get a balance of the two, not as vinegary as an escabeche, with more sweetness like the Marbella, but still holding that perfect summer tang.

Serves: 8 as a starter or 4 as a main
8 tbsp good quality olive oil
12 shallots, sliced in half
toasted coriander seeds
a cinnamon stick
4 garlic cloves, 
200ml white wine + 100ml stock or water
5 tbsps balsamic vinegar
4 bay leaves
1 large dried red chilli, finely chopped
a pinch of saffron, crumbled
2 tbsp brown sugar
75g pitted kalamata olives
4 very fresh medium-large mackerel, cleaned, filleted and pin-boned
plain flour for dusting
1 cup of fresh prawns (optional)
4 tbsps pine nuts, lightly toasted
dill leaves and edible flowers if you have them
salt and pepper

1. Heat 4 tbsps olive oil in a frying pan and fry the shallots and garlic at a low heat until softened and starting to colour, 10-15 minutes. Add the wine, vinegar, herbs and spices and bring to a boil. Add the olives, if
using, and simmer gently for 5-10 minutess, seasoning with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. In another frying pan heat the remaining olive oil. Pat the mackerel fillets dry if they are wet and season them well with salt and pepper. Dust them in the flour and fry (flesh side first) for a couple of minutes each side until starting to lightly golden, you don’t have to cook them through. Give the prawns a couple of minutes in the a hot pan with a tiny olive oil.
3. Place the mackerel in a wide shallow dish and pour over the escabeche sauce. Let sit for an hour, or, even better, chill overnight and then bring to room temperature.
4. Before serving discard the garlic cloves but serve some of the shallots. Arrange on a pretty plate, garnish with herbs and flowers, over a bed of baby leaves and some blanched golden beetroot. Sprinkle the nuts and serve.

- Florencia Clifford is a zen cook and the author of Feeding Orchids To The Slugs: Tales Of The Zen Kitchen. For more information, visit feedingorchidstotheslugs.wordpress.com.