Gelf Alderson

Hands on Fish & Shellfish

£45
Level: Peer






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The difference between Peer & Expert levels

Both Peer and Expert levels provide:

  • Video lessons led by an expert tutor
  • Downloadable lesson notes
  • Practice assignments
  • Group learning in a 20-student online classroom
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes, and classroom

The Expert level additionally includes:

  • Personalized feedback and coaching from your tutor
  • Private messaging with your tutor
  • Certificate of completion
Level: Peer

Course overview

Chef Gelf Alderson from River Cottage teaches you how to be confident sourcing, preparing and cooking with fish and shellfish.

You look at fish seasonally available, learn about sourcing your fish and shellfish sustainably and how to shop for the freshest fish locally.

Gelf will teach you the basics of fish preparation including gutting, scaling and filleting three types of fish – flat, round and oily – with a particular focus on knife skills.

And you will learn a variety of techniques including pan-frying, baking and stewing plus creating stocks and broths and delicious fish dishes.

Once you’ve learned the techniques and practised it yourself you will finish the course feeling confident in your ability to cook fish and shellfish at home.

You'll learn:

  • how to check fish and shellfish for freshness, quality and sustainability
  • how to gut, scale and fillet a fish
  • preparing and cleaning shellfish
  • recipes include pan-fried fish, fish stock, hot smoked mackerel, paprika cockles, clams with cider and mussels with chermoula

The course includes:

  • 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Gelf Alderson and River Cottage
  • lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical fish and shellfish assignments and recipes (with tutor feedback available)
  • access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
  • small interactive online classroom - chat online to students from around the world and share your creative ideas

Independent Cookery Schools Association approved

This course has been approved by the Independent Cookery Schools Association (ICSA), recognising the highest standards of training.

Time to complete the fish cooking course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 14 hours 30 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lessons: 2 hours 30 minutes in total
  • Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
  • Your fish cooking recipe assignments: at least 2 hours per lesson
  • Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
  • Tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per lesson

You'll need:

Your lesson notes will include the full details of the ingredients you'll need, but you will be making fish and shellfish dishes, so you'll need standard kitchen equipment.

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Gelf on fish and shellfish cooking assignments.

If you know someone who'd love this course then give it as a gift - just tick "This is a gift" at the checkout.

Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.

Watch course trailer

Lesson summary

Round white fish
This lesson will provide you with an introduction in how to purchase fish, check for quality and freshness, as well as the importance of sustainability. Gelf will teach you how to gut, scale, fillet and debone a round white fish in simple steps. At the end of the lesson you will put your new skills in to practise, creating the perfect pan-fried fish basted with butter and adorned with a simple garnish. Lesson length: 39 minutes Assignment: Using sustainably sourced white fish, practise filleting and pin boning. Show evidence of your first and second attempt so to demonstrate how your technique has progressed.
Flat fish
During this lesson you will learn how to both crosscut, and whole fillet a flat fish. At River Cottage we aim to minimise waste and Gelf will teach you to use every part of the fish from the skeleton to the skin .You will learn how to create a simple fish stock from the bones, which will make up the base for a spicy fish broth. By the end of the lesson you will have prepared a flat fish, roasted with fresh veg and olive oil and fillets of plaice poached in spicy fish stock. Lesson length: 33 minutes Assignment: Find yourself some flat fish and try filleting them. Then try both roasting a fish and poaching a fish – which one do you prefer? Try tweaking the vegetables, broth or herbs. Get creative and use food that is local and seasonal for you.
Oily fish
Succulent, flavourful mackerel fillets with a beautifully crisp skin make a tasty, quick meal. As one of the healthiest oily fish you can eat, it’s an absolute must to learn how to prepare it properly. In this lesson Gelf will demonstrate how to fillet a mackerel, and how to debone it using the v cut method. By the end of this lesson you will have learned how to cure and hot smoke mackerel fillets, and created a herby smoked mackerel paté. Lesson length: 20 minutes
Shellfish
This lesson is all about bivalves - mussels, cockles and clams. Gelf will teach you how to safely source and clean these varieties of shellfish and three great recipes to enhance their wonderful flavours. Lesson length: 55 minutes

Choose how you want to learn

Expert-level

Develop your learning further with marked assignments and personal tuition:

  • Start the course whenever you like
  • Tutor access for personalised assignment feedback & coaching
  • Certificate of completion and CPD learning hours
  • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
  • Lessons with expert videos & notes
  • Group chat & direct message with tutor & classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom

Peer-level

Get the most from shared knowledge and community study:

  • Start course whenever you like
  • Practise what you learn with your peers
  • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
  • Lessons with videos & notes
  • Course assignments
  • Group chat & direct message classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom

meet the expert

Gelf Alderson

River Cottage Culinary Director pioneering farm-to-fork ethos, passionate sustainability ambassador.

Read more

Why choose Learning with Experts?

Start whenever it suits you, and immerse yourself in motivational lesson tutorials with expert guidance.
Enhance your learning and personal growth with lesson assignments. Each course includes an optional assignment at the end of every lesson.
Drop a friendly message or respond to your assignment feedback. Our world-class experts are just a click away, ready to help you!
Stay informed about your own progress and those of your peers, and take joy in celebrating achievements along the way.
Chat and share ideas with passionate communities of learners from around the world.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between PEER and EXPERT levels?

At Peer and Expert level, you get access to the same core content and features:

  • Video lesson tutorials led by your expert tutor
  • Downloadable lesson notes
  • Option to practise what you learn with lesson assignments
  • Group learning within an online interactive classroom of up to 20 classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes and classroom

If you choose Expert level, you get all of the above plus the following:

  • Personalised assignment feedback and coaching from your expert tutor
  • Opportunity to interact with your expert tutor through a private messaging system
  • Certificate of completion.
What is an online classroom?

Our online classroom has been developed to allow you to learn from our experts in a sociable environment alongside up to 20 other students. After each video tutorial led by your expert, you will be encouraged to practice what you have learned with optional assignments - these can be seen by the other students in your class, who are free to share their own thoughts and questions with you.

You will be encouraged to take part in an ongoing class discussion where you can discuss ideas, post images or work, and comment on each other’s assignments. It’s a great way to learn from other like-minded people who share your passion from all over the world.

This means not only do you benefit from people who are outstanding in their field, but also from a close-knit group of like-minded people whom you can learn alongside. Group learning has shown to greatly improve not just the experience of studying, but also how well you retain the knowledge, and we have built our classroom experience around this fact.
When can I start my course and how long will it take?

You can start your course any time within 12 months after receipt of your purchase confirmation email. Once you start, you’ll have lifetime access — meaning you can revisit the lesson videos and notes whenever you want.

Our courses are designed so that you can study at your own pace, some prefer to binge learn while others like to spread their studying over a longer period of time - it’s completely up to you. To give you a rough time frame, each lesson video is approximately 30-40 minutes long, and we recommend that you spend around an hour on each assignment.
How often can I speak with the Expert?

If you opt for the Expert version of your course, the time you have to interact with your tutor is limited to course length. You will have one week per lesson to chat to your tutor and to have your assignments marked, and during this period you can ask them as many questions as you would like.

To find out the length of each course, head to the product page and look at the Course outline to see how many lessons it contains. e.g. a four lesson course assumes that you will have completed the assignments within four weeks.

Your tutor interaction period will start as soon as you enter the classroom. If you find that you are struggling to complete the assignments in the allocated time or you wish to put this function on hold, just get in contact with one of the team via the support button and we will help you out.
Support and full FAQs

If you need any help with a course, be it one you’ve started already, or one you are looking to purchase, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support email address, or view the full FAQ’s here.

You can also use the orange speech bubble on your page to start a conversation with us.

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Awards and accreditations

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