Name: Hands on Fish & Shellfish
Price: 135.0 GBP
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)

Course overview

Chef Gelf Alderson 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