Dover Sole

Why we should all be eating Dover sole

If the Dover sole was a person it’d have studied at Eton, joined the Bullingdon Club, and be a regular for luncheon at Whites. As a fish it’s posher than all the plum puddings and family silver of David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Bertie Wooster combined. Its reputation however, for being a fish fit for a king, has meant us everyday folk are more than a little scared to cook it.

It's true, Dover sole is not a cheap fish. As proteins go it certainly fits into the ‘special occasion’ category. The pressure of this only adds to the stress of cocking-it-up when cooking a Dover.

We want to put those fears to bed. Despite all its lah-di-dah and opulence there are few fish we can think of that with absolutely the bare minimal effort you can produce mind blowing results.

WHERE CAN I BUY GOOD DOVER SOLE?

Despite its name the Dover is caught and landed in pretty much every port in the British Isles. In fact, the range of this muscly slip of chestnut brown extends right the way across the North Atlantic, from the icy fjords and fjards of Norway to the emerald sandy beaches of Senegal.

But the plumpest, most succulent, Dover soles are caught right here in Brixham. It is not just our bias talking when we say the Dovers we have on the south coast are the jealousy of the world – and have been for centuries.

Which is why it’s so odd that we don’t really see many Dover sole on the slabs of fishmongers or supermarket seafood counters.

Often times they’re swept up by chefs, keen to serve them at the tables of grandeur, or sold abroad, in France and Spain – we’ve even seen Brixham Dover sole advertised on menus as far flung as Hong Kong!

Dover sole is a constant feature on our Online Seafood Market. Landed on Brixham Market or on our own boat The Rockfisher, Mitch always tries to pick the best of the day’s landings, making the Dover sole we sell online the best of the best!

IS DOVER SOLE SUSTAINABLE?

It’s true a Dover sole is certainly not a fish you want to eat with abandon. Where you buy your Dover sole is of importance.

But given that we are a nation who insist on rarely deviating our diets from one of five fish (80% of the fish that we eat are made up of cod, salmon, tuna, haddock, and prawns) the variety that Dover sole offers can be nothing but a good thing.

Dover sole feed at night. As a result, they’re rarely caught by rod and line anglers, which has sometimes resulted in them being mistakenly thought of as rarer than they really are.

In fact, the MSC regards the Dover sole we catch here in Brixham as Best Choice – in praise of the stringent management systems and minute monitoring of the species’ stock health.

 HOW DO I COOK A DOVER SOLE? 

In 1903, the godfather of French cookery, Auguste Escoffier devised the dish Sole Véronique, as a pre-theatre supper for guests at the Cartlon – at the time the opera Véronique was enjoying a successful run at the Coronet theatre. Escoffier’s Sole Véronique involved poaching the fish in white wine and serving with muscat grapes.

In fact, the tradition of pairing Dover sole with exuberant and extravagant flavour combinations is a tradition that traces fish’s grandiose appeal.

However, that sort of thing goes against everything we’re about here at Rockfish. Our mission from the start has been to make fish easy! To use easy to access ingredients and simple cooking techniques to bring out the very purest flavours from our fish.

For Dover sole cooking we tend to look towards Italy for our inspiration. In our eyes, any country who can celebrate dishes like Cacio e pepe – simple pasta and pepper – know a thing or two when it comes to keeping flavours simple.

Our favourite way to cook Dover sole? Just prosciutto, sage and a little butter. Simply fried, or roasted, all together for a couple of minutes. We find the saltiness of the prosciutto and the aromatic sage does something wondrous to the meaty texture of a Dover sole.

If you want to spend your afternoons working away like a mad-gastronomic scientist producing zesty reductions with vintage Chablis, or a hot and creamy Velouté from wild foraged chanterelles – be our guest! In fact, Auguste Escoffier penned over 180 different recipes for Dover sole all as extravagant and outrageous as the last. And we concur – there is no finer fish to have this sort of kitchen fun with.

But if simple, faff-free, and unbelievably tasty is more your bag – believe us when we say a Dover sole can play that tune just as well.