Hello again! Firstly, thank you so much for subscribing. I’m overwhelmed by how many of you want to read it, and I’m very grateful for the support. This week’s newsletter has a Cornish slant, as I’ve come back to the motherland for a bit of ‘sea air’ like a weak Victorian lady. I hope you enjoy this week’s recipe and recommendations, and I’d love it if you shared this week’s instalment with any fish fans/barbecue aficionados/your pals in general.
I’ve been enjoying being back around the casual drops of wosson’ (what’s on), my hansom’ (term of endearment) and ‘dreckly (something will be done soon… or not) etc, and thought I’d go with the Cornish vibe for our weekend barbecue by making some mackerel burgers. I’m never quite sure how fish is going to go down with people less enthusiastic about it than me (fish is an exciting new discovery in my life, 10 years of being meat-free gave way to pescatarianism in 2018), but these burgers went down an absolute storm. Given they have no binder, I was shocked to discover they do stay together even on the most aggressive of barbecue flames. The key is a) chilling and b) the oil brush, meaning they don’t get stuck on your barbecue grate which, let’s be real, hasn’t been properly cleaned in quite some time.
These burgers pretty easy to put together, and if you’ve never made your own mayonnaise before, then don’t be afraid! Just pour the oil in really slowly and you’ll be rewarded with silky, moreish mayo. If you like a little spice in your burger, a few pickled chillies or a smothering of your favourite hot sauce wouldn’t go amiss here too.
Peppery mackerel burgers with dill aioli
Serves 4
For the burgers
4 mackerel fillets (approx 90g each)
300g raw king prawns
7g parsley
1 clove of garlic
1 lemon, zested
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 milk buns
1/2 a red onion
watercress
For the aioli
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 a tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 lemon, juiced
250ml vegetable oil
7g fresh dill
1 clove of garlic
Remove the skin from your mackerel fillets, then roughly chop the fillets and the prawns, watching out for any small bones.
Add to a food processor, then roughly chop the parsley and add, and grate in the garlic and lemon zest. Season with salt and the black pepper and pulse until the mixture starts to come together in a ball.
Transfer into a bowl, cover and leave in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
While your burgers are chilling, add the egg yolk, vinegar, mustard and lemon juice to a food processor. Run the processor on a low speed and very slowly pour in the oil until the mixture is thick and creamy, then transfer to a bowl.
Finely chop your dill garlic and add to the bowl, along with salt to taste.
After chilling, shape into four chunky patties and brush with a little oil.
Transfer to a hot barbecue, and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side until lightly charred and cooked through.
Slice open the burger buns and place on the barbecue to toast for 30 seconds.
To assemble, spread the bottom of the bun with the aioli, top with the burger, a little more aioli, then the red onion and watercress.
Be careful with your salt. Apparently, not all salts are made equal, and I often find that table salt is just… saltier than my normal flaky choice. I did some digging into this hunch, and I’m not wrong! Table salt is more saline (read: saltier) than flaky salt, apparently. Basically, if you’re using a different type of salt to what you’re used to cooking with, proceed with caution, or you’ll end up with a first batch of very salty burgers like me.
Things to watch/read/eat/cook:
I’ve been thinking about juicy paletas all month (my favourite flavour is kiwi watermelon).
This scathing review of Il Borro from Jay Rayner, where he compares the texture of their focaccia to Tena pants.
If you find yourself in Penzance, make the trip to Mackerel Sky in Newlyn, where you can get as much fresh seafood as you like, followed by an ice cream with a flake from Jelbert’s shop around the corner.