This piquant rhubarb pickle is the perfect complement to rich, oily mackerel. It is also lovely served alongside creamy soft cheese or smoked fish and will keep happily for a week or so in your fridge. Quick to make and pleasing to the eye, this is a dish The Cookery School often teaches on their Seasonal Dinner Party courses.
(SERVES 4 AS A STARTER)
FOR THE PICKLE
100g cider vinegar
100g sugar
1 star anise
5 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 sticks of pink rhubarb, cut into 3mm slices
FOR THE MACKEREL SALAD
4 mackerel fillets (pin-bones removed)
2 handfuls of land cress (or watercress)
2 tbsp crème frâiche
Glug of extra virgin olive oil
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Place the vinegar, sugar, star anise, peppercorns and bay leaf into a saucepan and heat to dissolve the sugar, stirring every so often.
Once the sugar has dissolved, tip in the sliced rhubarb and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat and leave the pickle to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before pouring into a glass bowl or dish and keeping to one side.
In a small bowl mix the crème frâiche with the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper and keep to one side. Toss the land cress in a little olive oil.
To cook the mackerel, slice each fillet into two pieces on the diagonal and season on both sides. Heat a little oil in a saucepan and once hot, add the mackerel fillets, skin-side down. Cook for 2 minutes until the skin is golden and then flip over to cook for 1 minute on the flesh side. (Do this in two batches if your pan isn’t big enough to comfortably hold the pieces of fish).
To serve, place a little land cress on the base of each plate and top each with two pieces of mackerel. Drizzle with a little of the seasoned crème frâiche and lastly the a scattering of the pickled rhubarb.
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