Apparently this is the best time of year for both mackerel and gooseberries, which is why the French serve the two together in maquereau a la confiture de groseilles. Martin found the mackerels, but not the gooseberries. Last night he cooked a couple of the whole, cleaned fish quickly on a very hot ridged grill pan and served them with jersey royals. To start, they had another seasonal treat: some of the first English broad beans, cooked a la granadina with chorizo, garlic, red pepper, cummin, smoked paprika, saffron and sherry vinegar. (There should be artichokes in there as well, but like the gooseberries, these were beyond the scope of the local shops this weekend.) These beans were fantastic, with a lovely creamy texture - I know because one flew out of the pan and stuck to the cooker, and I ate it later when I was doing my rounds of the kitchen, looking for splashes of fat to lick.
I had seen M preparing the shiny silver-and-black fish in the kitchen earlier in the day, but I didn't get too excited. I learned my lesson last week when they taunted me with sea bass fillets only to eat them all themselves. Clearly the only fish I'm ever going to get is frozen coley. Ah well, at least there are no bones to worry about...
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