All cookbooks should be like this

The Spanish have a love affair with hake, or merluza as it’s known in this part of the world. It’s one of the most popular fish in the Spanish diet, particularly in the north, but I personally don’t understand why. Sure, I’ve liked every hake recipe I’ve ever tried. But personally, I think it’s overrated, mushy and, well, bland. I prefer my fish as blue and oily as possible. I now have another reason to skip hake though. Some of the European fisheries have been exploited to the point of collapse. For that reason if nothing else, hake is best avoided.

I gleaned this little titbit of useful information from what I can only describe as the most extensive, thoroughly researched, eminently readable cookbook I’ve come across in a long time. All cookbooks should be like this. It’s called ‘The River Cottage Fish Book’, by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Nick Fisher, and it’s a fantastic guide to eating the fish of the British Isles (which have a lot in common with what we eat down here, thankfully).

Yes, there are recipes in there, everything from boat-prepared mackerel sashimi to traditional fish and chips. But that’s not what attracts me most to this book. What I like is the way the authors make you think about the fish you’re eating, about where and how it’s been caught, about the impact of your dietary habits.

They also have some good practical tips. Here you’ll learn everything from how to choose a good fish to how to gut it. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not scared of fish and I’ve gutted more of them than I care to remember. But until I picked this book up, I wouldn’t have had a clue how to clean a flatfish. So there you go, you always learn something.

The other thing I’ve learned from this book is something that I’ve been dwelling on for some time, and that is that we really do have to take responsibility for the fish we eat. As in, no more Bluefin tuna please. I’ve been meaning to take more care in the choices I make when eating fish bought from the market (as opposed to hand caught by my dad), but I was having trouble finding helpful information. Then I came across this. It’s a fish search tool run by the Marine Conservation Society and it couldn’t be simpler. Just type in the name of the fish for a complete update on the present state of the fisheries and advice on whether to eat or avoid.

One thing that jumps out from both the book and the site is that it’s always a good idea to ask where your fish comes from. If you can, opt for fish caught by small operators. I can do that here because I live near two fishing ports, home to coastal vessels that go out daily. My dad is also an obsessive sport fisherman, which means I have privileged access to a steady supply of hand caught fish. But I’d be interested to find out how easy it is to find out where your fish comes from in your part of the world.

Hake photo via Dreamstime.