Fish for thought

The essence of the trip was a meeting of minds with all the management team from Les Routiers. My passion for food and writing brought me to our capital several years earlier and I do enjoy going back to see if anything catches my eye.

I visited a tremendous business haven in the heart of the financial centre of London, The Rookery. To appreciate what I found you must visit their website at www.rookeryhotel.com

Peter's Lane, Cowcross Street is located a short distance from St Paul's and the Bank of England. The only remaining early houses in Peter's Lane have been repaired to create this delightful small hotel which is cosseted with history.

Open fires, mellow panelling and period furniture give The Rookery its unique homely atmosphere, making me feel right at home.

Then off to Soho, what a contrast, but worth the visit to Manzi's who have enjoyed serving the finest fish for over 70 years, and it is a hard act to follow.

Lunch was wonderful. I started with a little Whitebait and a glass of Pino Grigio 99, freshly grilled Fillets of Sardine, followed with King Prawns in garlic butter served with a light Bernaise sauce.

The menu is large, with a feast of specialities to entertain every fish lover's palette. The service was very good and Mrs Manzi is an excellent hostess. More than well worth a visit.

With all that fish in mind, here are some of my favourite recipes from my Bridge Over Britain book. Salcombe Bay Crab Soup INGREDIENTS

50g/2oz butter

1 large onion, sliced

225/8oz fresh crab meat

25g/1oz plain flour

1.21/2pt fish stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp anchovy essence

grated rind and juice of one orange

50ml/2fl oz dry sherry

275ml/ pt double cream

METHOD

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the onion and crab meat and cook gently for six minutes. Add the flour, stirring thoroughly to avoid lumps. Very slowly add the fish stock, stirring all the time until the soup comes to the boil, and allow it to simmer for 40 minutes.

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the anchovy essence, orange juice and rind, sherry and cream.

Re-heat and serve with crusty brown bread and a dry white wine. Solomongundy Sallid Magundi THIS dish originates from Tudor times, and I have about 14 different recipes with three different ways of spelling the name. This is an excellent recipe for a barbecue party or for that special evening when you want to serve something extra but don't know what!

INGREDIENTS

1 large flat lettuce

8 rollmop herrings and juice

4 x 150g/6oz chicken breast, cooked and thinly sliced

6 hard-boiled eggs, quartered

100g/4oz York ham, sliced

100g/4oz roast beef, sliced

100g/4oz roast lamb, sliced

150g/6oz mange tout, cooked and cooled

100g/4oz seedless black grapes

20 stuffed olives, sliced

12 shallots, peeled and boiled

50g/2ozs flaked almonds

50g/2ozs sultanas

GARNISH

2 oranges, zested and sliced

sprig of fresh mint leaves

salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

Take a large, flat, oval platter and completely cover it with lettuce. Then, starting with the herrings, line the platter, lengthways from the top, using the herrings, chicken, eggs and meats. Cover the platter completely, then line between each item of food with the mange tout, sliced grapes, olives, shallots, almonds and sultanas.

Finally, garnish with a sprinkling of orange zest, slices of orange and mint leaves. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour the juice over the herrings and serve with crusty bread.

If you wish, garnish with cold, cooked vegetables such as sliced beans, baby sweetcorn and beetroot, or with red cabbage, which always looks good. Sewin with Leek and Orange INGREDIENTS

4 x 225g/8oz sewin or salmon trout, gutted and cleaned

450g/1lb green of leeks, shredded

4 large Seville oranges, juice and rind cut into fine strips

salt and freshly ground black pepper

600ml/1pt chicken stock

100g/4oz butter diced

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. Lightly grease a baking tray with a little butter.

Sprinkle a few shredded leeks into the cavity of the fish with some of the orange rind and juice and seasoning. Bake in the centre of the oven for 10 minutes then carefully turn the fish over and bake for a further five minutes.

Meanwhile, bring the chicken stock to the boil, add the rest of the orange juice and rind, simmer for 15 minutes, add the leeks and seasoning and simmer for five minutes. Add the butter.

Place the leeks and a little sauce on a serving dish, with the fish on the leeks and orange and serve. Medley of Seafood on a Bed of Rose Petal Cream Sauce YOU can use almost any sea fish in this recipe, but I particularly like red sea bream. The choice is yours!

INGREDIENTS

450g/1lb fillet of bream

12 crevettes

50g/2oz butter

12 scallops

12 tiger prawns

125g/4oz freshwater prawns

freshly ground black pepper

juice and zest of 1 lemon

saffron (powder or strands)

Sauce

150ml/pt rose petal vinegar

pink peppercorns

150ml/pt good quality white wine

6 turned carrots

salt and freshly ground black pepper

150ml/pt double cream or fromage frais

Vegetable stock

1 carrot, diced

1 onion, diced

1 stick of celery, diced

1 leek, chopped

1 bay leaf

bouquet garni

1 tbsp fresh herbs

1 clove of garlic, chopped

METHOD

Prepare the stock by placing the vegetables in 1 litre/1 pt water, with the bay leaf, bouquet garni, herbs and garlic. Simmer for one hour, strain and place to one side.

Fillet the sea bream, slice into cuts and place to one side. Place the crevettes on their side and cut down the spine with a sharp knife.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add all the fish. Cook for 1-2 minutes, season with ground black pepper. Add one tbsp of lemon juice and the lemon zest.

Very carefully add a pinch of saffron powder or a few strands to the juice and butter in the pan (not over the fish). Remove the pan from the heat and place the seafood in layers on a warm plate. Put the plate in the oven to keep warm.

Return the pan with the juices to the heat, add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and reduce by one-third.

Add the rose petal vinegar and let it reduce for four minutes. Add the peppercorns, the rest of the lemon juice, the white wine and turned carrots, season, then allow the sauce to reduce for a further six minutes.

Pour over the cream and simmer for two minutes.

Remove the fish from the oven and lightly mask the fish with the sauce, placing the carrots around the plate.

If you are serving this as a main course, mash the vegetables left from the stock with some potatoes and make them into little patty shapes, coat in egg and bread crumbs and shallow fry them it a little melted butter or cooking oil. English Kedgeree KNOWN as 'kitchri' and originally a spicy Indian recipe containing onions and lentils, the recipe was brought back to Britain as a breakfast dish in the 18th century by the nabobs of the East India Company.

INGREDIENTS

450g/1lb cooked finnan haddock, bone and skin removed

50g/2oz best butter

saffron powder

175g/6oz cooked long-grain rice

3 eggs, hard boiled and shelled

2 tbsp double cream

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garnish

freshly chopped parsley

coriander leaves

METHOD

Flake the cooked finnan haddock, making sure all the bones and skin are removed.

Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan, add the fish with a pinch of saffron. Chop the eggs and add them with the rice to the saucepan.

Gently heat all the ingredients together, slowly add the cream, stirring thoroughly, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve hot with a sprinkle of freshly chopped parsley or coriander leaves.