A fabulous fishy dish using rock salmon

APRIL! On Ilfracombe's harbour you can duck into S&P Fish and find the best of what's in season from the local sea.

Turbot, monkfish, herring, sardines and rock salmon (also known as dogfish and huss) are in abundance now.

Fisherman Scott Wharton, who supplies S&P, has two trawlers that go out several times a week and lately they are bringing in a lot of beautiful rock salmon.

It is a lovely meaty fish, like swordfish, but white, succulent and flaky and undeservedly underrated in the UK.

Most of the rock salmon that Scott fishes off Lundy is sold in southern Europe. How lucky are we to have it fresh off the boat in the harbour?

"It is far tastier than monkfish, though similar, and a lot cheaper — a really beautiful fish that is not valued as much as it should be," he said.

Tastier than monkfish? Cheap and abundant? That sounds like the fish for me!

The friendly staff would be only too happy to remove the cartilage but I wanted to do it myself, finding it not too hard at all. In fact, Bill Lawrence, who helped me, revealed he poached it for his children when they were babies as it doesn't have any bones in it. Scott offered his favourite recipe — cooked like scallops with garlic and cream — and another enthusiastic attendant declared that, hands down, when it's fresh, it's best simply fried with breadcrumbs.

I walked away spoiled for choice.

If you have sampled tapas in Barcelona, the fish for the popular rock salmon dish probably came from North Devon and this is my take on that. I have used lashings of our beautiful local wild garlic which is at its best in April. You use the green leaves, not the bulb as you do for cloves of garlic. You can easily find it in shady lanes, along paths under trees. It is pungent and fragrant at the same time — great for cooking with.

Devon Rock Salmon Tapas

Serves 4

Ingredients

About a kilo of rock salmon, skinned and cartilage removed

Sea salt

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Bunch of North Devon wild garlic, chopped

Glug of good olive oil

Handful of fresh parsley, chopped

1 small hot red chilli, chopped

A wedge of lemon to garnish

Method

1. Wash and pat the fish dry; cut into large chunks, about 2in sq and salt well. Leave it while you prep up the rest of the ingredients.

2. Heat the olive oil in a terracotta oven dish that can go on top of the cooker, or else a heavy saucepan, and gently soften the garlic then add the fish, wild garlic, parsley and chilli.

3. Cook gently uncovered for around 15 minutes depending on the thickness of the steaks — it releases a lot of liquid, which continues to evaporate as it cooks, making a delicious jus.

4.When ready, the fish will be firm and white and still soft and tender in the middle.

Very nice with boiled potatoes, a fresh salad with vinaigrette, a chunk of crusty bread and a glass of dry white wine.

S&P Fish also have a shop in Butchers Row in Barnstaple.