Hay-smoked mackerel, lemon salad and gentleman's relish
Serves 4
To make the pickled lemons:
water 150ml
chardonnay vinegar 100ml
sugar 50g
Amalfi lemons 2
For the mayonnaise:
egg 35g
Dijon mustard 20g
arachide (groundnut) oil 80ml
chardonnay vinegar 10ml
salt 2g
lemon juice 40ml
For the garlic and anchovy sauce:
garlic cloves 75g, peeled and de-germed (take out green sprout)
semi-skimmed milk for blanching the garlic 4 x 300ml
semi-skimmed milk 200ml
Panko breadcrumbs 8g
anchovy fillets 50g
olive oil 40ml
lemon juice 15ml
mayonnaise (see above)
To cure the mackerel:
sugar 25g
salt 75g
bergamot zest 20g
lime zest 10g
coriander seeds 10g
black peppercorns 2g
fresh mackerel 2
meadow sweet hay
To serve:
pickled lemon slices
grelot onions 6, peeled, blanched and cut in half
radicchio leaves
Bull's Blood leaves 16
endive leaves 8, cut in half
olive oil 25ml
bergamot juice 25ml
The pickled lemons need to be refrigerated for 48 hours before using. To pickle the lemons, in a pan over a gentle heat, mix the water, vinegar and sugar together. When the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and cool. Thinly slice the lemons, discarding the seeds, and place into the pickling liquid. Place in the fridge for 48 hours.
To make mayonnaise, combine the egg and mustard in a bowl. Gradually incorporate the oil, whisking continually to emulsify. Add the vinegar, salt and lemon juice and mix well. Refrigerate.
To make garlic and anchovy sauce, cover garlic with 300ml milk and add a dash of cold water. Bring slowly to a simmer then drain and rinse garlic under cold running water. Return garlic to pan and repeat process three times.
In a pan, cover the garlic with the 200ml semi-skimmed milk and bring to a simmer. Cook until garlic is very soft and milk has reduced in volume. Remove from heat and pour into a jug. Blitz using a hand blender until smooth, then add breadcrumbs and anchovies and blitz again until smooth. While blitzing, slowly add the oil and lemon juice then pass through a fine sieve.
Weigh garlic and anchovy mix, add 30% of the total weight of mayonnaise, mix well. Refrigerate.
To cure the mackerel, place the sugar, salt, bergamot and lime zest, coriander seeds and peppercorns in a food processor and blitz until finely ground.
Gut and fillet the mackerel. Run the tip of a sharp filleting knife down either side of the pin bones and bloodline in the centre of each fillet and remove this area by pulling it away with fish tweezers.
Spread the bergamot cure on to a tray and place the fish fillets on it, flesh-side down. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for 2 hours. Rinse the fillets under cold running water to remove the cure then pat dry with kitchen paper.
Place a layer of hay (available from pet shops) in a fish BBQ clamp and lay the mackerel fillets on top. Cover fillets with more hay and close the clamp.
Do the next step outside! Using a blowtorch or simply placing over a lit BBQ, ignite the hay, then place on a tray and allow the flames to die out. Remove fillets and trim. Place fish in the fridge.
To serve, cut each fillet into four pieces. Spread a tablespoon of the anchovy sauce on each plate and place mackerel on top.
Garnish with the lemon slices, onions, radicchio and bull's blood leaves and endive. Whisk together the oil and bergamot juice and drizzle over dish before serving.
