You can use this recipe for cod or hake or trout and I’ve also used rapeseed oil instead of olive oil and made a Hollandaise sauce to serve with it from the cooking oil.

Serves 4

4 thick portions of salmon, weighing about 180-200g each

Enough Olive oil mixed with equal quantities of vegetable oil to cover the fish

1 clove of garlic, peeled

1/2 tbls Dorset sea salt

A few sprigs of thyme

1tsp fennel seeds

10 peppercorns

1 tbs chopped parsley to serve

 

Method

Sprinkle the salt on the fish and leave it to sit for 30 minutes. Put enough oil in a

saucepan to cover the fish. (A small, tight-fitting pan should be used or you will end

up using too much olive oil). Put the garlic, thyme, fennel seeds and

peppercorns in the pan. Heat the pan gently and leave to infuse on a very low heat for 10

minutes (a diffuser plate works well for this). Remove from the heat, add the salmon and leave somewhere warm with a lid on for 1 hour. A pan of gently simmering water with a lid would be good, or the warming oven of an Aga. The idea is that the fish just barely cooks in the oil and becomes beautifully translucent.

For the potatoes

Peel and roughly Chop a large floury potato and cook in lightly salted water until tender then drain and return to the pan on a low heat for 30 seconds to dry out. Mash the potato as finely as possible or pass through a potato ricer. Beat in a about 150g melted unsalted butter with a wooden spoon and some of the oil the fish was cooked in. The potato should be a thick sauce like consistency, if not just beat in a little milk and season to taste.