Fish Cookery

Handling fresh fish requires confidence, knowledge and technique. In this course, River Cottage will give you all three of those things. Not only will you be left with the ability to prepare a delicious fish-based meal but also to shop for the freshest and most sustainably sourced fish you can find.

Beginning with fish preparation, Gelf Alderson will guide you the process of preparing a fish. Gutting, scaling and filleting are the fundamental skills that you will learn to apply, but you’ll also learn to practise them on oily, flat and round fish. By the end of the first lesson, you will have mastered all the knife skills needed to carefully and safely prepare most fish.

From here you will take an in-depth look at shellfish. Lesson two will ensure that you can crack, pick and cook an array of seafood, including crab, lobster, scallops and mussels.

You will also learn more about the different techniques of fish cookery like smoking, curing and ceviche style. Your tutor will produce a host of delicious recipes for you to make and share involving pan frying, baking, stewing, stocks and broths and as you would expect at River Cottage, we make use of every part of the fish from skeleton to skin.