⏱️ Enjoy with your favourite beverage | 4 min readFive o’clock in the morning on Rottnest. Everything you needed for the day went on your bike – bait, rope, gloves, a hessian bag for the catch. The ride to Parker Point was five kilometres in pre-dawn dark. The Scott’s ute or Des Sullivan’s station wagon had already dropped the cane crayfish pots earlier –…
⏱️ Enjoy with your favourite beverage | 5 min readI’ve always thought baking gets overlooked when people talk about cooking fish. Everyone rushes to the pan-sear, chasing that restaurant-style crust and the drama of high heat. But here’s what I’ve learnt: baking is actually the most versatile way to cook fish, especially when you’re feeding more than two people or want to try different…
⏱️ Enjoy with your favourite beverage | 5 min readAfter discovering the transformative power of temperature control in Part One, I found myself drawn deeper into how different fish species respond to heat. Each variety seemed to have its own personality – some delicate and forgiving, others robust and demanding specific treatment. What started as temperature awareness evolved into a deeper appreciation of species-specific…
⏱️ Enjoy with your favourite beverage | 6 min readThere’s a pattern I’ve noticed in the people who consistently cook fish well at home they stop following the clock and start watching the fish. That shift, from recipe-follower to attentive cook, is where weeknight pan searing goes from inconsistent to reliable. It’s not about technique complexity. It’s about understanding what’s actually happening in the…
⏱️ Enjoy with your favourite beverage | 5 min readThe teppanyaki plate changed how I cook fish at home. The flat surface distributes heat evenly across the whole fillet, and combined with a chef’s press held down for the full cook, the skin stays in continuous contact and renders rather than steams. There are two other reasons I come back to the teppanyaki plate…
⏱️ Enjoy with your favourite beverage | 5 min readThis is the sauce I make when I want something that works with the fat in kingfish rather than against it. The anchovy is the decision – three fillets pressed into the oil until they dissolve completely, shifting the base from sharp to savoury before anything else goes in. The fish stock cubes do the…
⏱️ Enjoy with your favourite beverage | 4 min readThe question I was working through was whether orange zest or desert lime served the Abrolhos scallop better – two completely different types of citruses, two completely different things happening on the palate. The orange zest won. It releases fragrance and bitter citrus oil as you eat rather than juice, and it does something the…
⏱️ Enjoy with your favourite beverage | 4 min readI picked up Smoky Bay oysters and spent the next few hours in the kitchen playing – which is how most of my best recipes start. I had frozen desert limes in the freezer and green finger lime pearls waiting, and I wanted to know what would happen if I let the desert lime do…
⏱️ Enjoy with your favourite beverage | 4 min readCarp is often overlooked, but it’s a surprisingly versatile, sustainable, and flavourful fish that shines when given the right treatment. Trying this carp burger recipe is not just about embracing a new protein source – it’s about transforming an underappreciated fish into a delicious, healthy meal that’s perfect for grilling, pan-searing, or even shaping into…
⏱️ Enjoy with your favourite beverage | 6 min readAt a cooking demonstration at the Adelaide Central Market, I asked the audience a simple question: how many of you prefer the fish you eat in a good restaurant to the fish you cook at home? Most hands went up. The audience was seated directly opposite the community kitchen, the noise and movement of the…
