Mackerel Caesar with smoked carrots

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This stunning take on a Caesar salad switches out the usual chicken for a tasty tartare of fresh mackerel seasoned with smoked oil, pear vinegar and chives. The dish is topped with smoky barbecued carrots. Bear in mind, if you are making the pine vinegar yourself, it takes one week to infuse.

First published in 2022

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Mackerel

Smoked carrots

  • 4 carrots
  • 20ml Pine vinegar, (this can be made by infusing pine in white wine vinegar for a minimum of one week)
  • 1 tbsp of honey
  • sea salt

Caesar dressing

Equipment

  • Barbecue

Method

1

Begin by lighting a barbecue for the carrots. Once hot, place the carrots straight onto the hot coals. If your barbecue has a lid, close it. Turn the carrots periodically, you want blackened skins with a soft inside

2

As the carrots cook, brine the mackerel. Place the water and salt into a container large enough to hold both fish. Stir to dissolve the salt, then add the whole fish and place in the fridge to brine for 30 minutes

3

Next, make the caesar dressing. Use a pestle and mortar to grind the anchovies and garlic together into a paste. Finely grate the cheddar

4

Place the yolks in a bowl with the mustard and anchovy and garlic paste and whisk for a minute or so until thick and pale. Then slowly drizzle the oil in whilst continuously whisking to create an emulsion. If it looks like its splitting, add a dash of cold water and keep whisking to bring it back together

5

Whisk in the finely grated cheddar. Taste and season the dressing with lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper

6

After half an hour, remove the fish from the brine and use a sharp knife flat against the spine to remove the fillets. Then debone by making a v shaped cut down the centre of each fillet and the spine bones should come out in one piece

7

Skin the fillets and dice the flesh into a rough 1cm dice. Reserve in the fridge until ready to serve

8

Once the carrots are cooked and cool enough to handle, peel the blackened skins from the carrots – they should rub off quite easily if the carrots are still warm

9

Finely slice the carrots then season with pine vinegar, salt flakes and a touch of honey to sweeten. The amounts given are a rough guideline, so add the ingredients bit by bit tasting as you go until you are happy with the flavour

  • 20ml Pine vinegar, (this can be made by infusing pine in white wine vinegar for a minimum of one week)
  • sea salt
  • 1 tbsp of honey
10

Now all the elements are ready you can assemble. In a mixing bowl, add the diced mackerel, chopped chives, a good glug of smoked rapeseed oil, a good splash of pear vinegar and sea salt flakes. Again, the quantities given are only rough as the freshly caught fish can taste different from day to day. What you are looking for is a smoky, lightly tangy and well seasoned tartare

11

Spoon the mackerel into each bowl and drizzle with some caesar dressing. Top with the sliced carrots and finish with coriander leaves and coriander flowers

First published in 2022

Following years spent working on yachts as a private chef, Harriet Mansell returned to South West England, where she grew up, to open her debut restaurant Robin Wylde. Both there and at her second restaurant Lilac, she imaginatively showcases her love of wild food, which has developed over the course of her career.

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