Grilled mackerel with cardamom-glazed beetroot and a verjus apple dressing

Place the water, sugar, butter, cardamom, star anise and a pinch of salt in a pan and gently simmer until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid has reduced by about a third

Divide the braising liquor between 2 pans, then place the yellow beetroot in 1 and the red in the other. Continue to simmer until the liquor reduces down further into a glossy glaze

Meanwhile, pat the skin of the mackerel fillets dry – you want the skin to be as dry as possible to ensure crispy skin. Ideally you’d cook the mackerel on a very hot charcoal grill, but you could also use a very hot griddle pan. Drizzle the skin with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and place skin-side down on the hot grill or pan. Cook for a few minutes until the skin is crisp and blistered, then set aside to rest – the residual heat will finish cooking the fish through

Once the beetroots are well glazed, add a splash of verjus to each pan and continue to gently cook to emulsify further

To prepare the salad, slice away the green skin of the kohlrabi until you’re left with just white flesh. Dice into 1cm cubes and place in a mixing bowl

Finely slice the coriander stems, then add these to the bowl along with the leaves. Halve, core and slice the apple, separate the chicory into individual leaves then add both to the salad and toss everything together

To serve, scatter the beetroot over the plates, avoiding the whole spices and ensuring plenty of the glaze gets spooned over too. Layer up with the salad, then place a mackerel fillet on top. Finish with a little more salt