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| Me and Nancy at home for Easter. |
Ah… What better way to start than with the intimidating blend of almost raw fish, orange juice and fear? Its delicious, I promise.
I came home for Easter a week late – leaving the smog of London to be physically knocked out with fresh, Cornish sea-air. (I wake up feeling almost drunk, the air’s so damn fresh.)
Of course – this recipe requires equally fresh fish – so if you live in a city it’s vital to find a proper fishmonger or fish market – they should also bone and skin the fish for you. (As fish boning and skinning by yourself is a whole other… kettle of… fish.)
I first heard about Ceviche on an episode of Grays Anatomy in which a patient comes in who has been mangled by the propellor blades on a boat. (the Oh-so-tactless doctors call her 'Ceviche' – chopped fish.) I later tried the dish myself in the form of an amuse-bouche in a restaurant in Paris. It was pink and came in a shot glass.
I love things in shot glasses.
It’s basically chopped fish which cooks slowly in citric acid. Oranges and Lemons add a sharp tang to the fish – which has all the tenderness of sashimi but won’t upset your dad.
For the fish:
The juice of 1 orange and 2 lemons
1fillet of sea bass
1 fillet of salmon
For the salad:
3 large tomatoes
half a red onion
a sprinkling of chopped chilli (or a pinch of chilli powder)
the zest of half a lemon
a bunch of fresh tarragon
salt and pepper
So, we start by squeezing the lemons and orange and dividing the juice into two separate bowls. Chop the salmon and sea bass into centimeter chunks, and put them into the juice.
So you should have one bowl full of orangey, lemony sea bass and one bowl of lemony orangey salmon.
Cover with cling film and pop them in the fridge for an hour, stirring them periodically so all of your fish is cooked.
While the fish is doing its fishy thing, its time to make the salad. Chop up your tomatoes and put them in a large bowl. The juice of the tomatoes will be the base of your salad.
Chop the red onion as finely as you can – the last thing you want is a big mouthful of raw onion. (I know your eyes sting, but be brave! …I cried.)
Add to the tomatoes.
Add you chilli and lemon zest, and using a pair of scissors cut up the tarragon into little pieces. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix it all up real nice.
After an hour of soaking in the fridge, your fish should look cloudy and pale. Its done. Drain away the juice, and mix your fish into the salad.
Pour it all into your favourite salad dish, and add lemon wedges, whole tarragon leaves and a last sprinkling of lemon and orange zest to decorate.
And voila!
PS: tell your dad you cooked the fish in the oven. Otherwise he won’t eat it. But if he thinks its cooked, by god he’ll scrape the plate.
