Customer Reviews
Nice book shame about the index - By: Stokey Sue, 13 Nov 2008 
I looked around before I bought this book - I wanted something that had a lot more to it than the fish sections of general cook books, & I really wanted the sections on choosing fish & basic tchniques.
As you can see from the other reviews, it fits the bill very well
However, I mark it down one star because using it as a cook book is actually quite difficult because of the lack of a proper cross-referenced index showing fish types & recipes. What they do is give you a load of recipes, which are listed under the name of a single fish, but may recommend up to about half a dozen other fish that will work.
Suppose you have a beautiful grey mullet. You look it upin the index & find pretty much zilch. So you turn to grey mulletin the fish directory & hiddenin the grey boxin the margin are some page numbers which contain recipes suitable for using with grey mullet - but no clue whatsoever as to what any of those recipes might be. So you have to turn to each onein turn to discover what they are. By the time you have done this you've spent half an hour finding out that the recipe you fancy needs an ingredient you don't have & the corner shop closed 10 minutes ago.
Wouldn't have been easier just to listin the index all the recipes under the fish to which they can apply ? And entries for fish steaks & fish fillets while you were at it guys - not all of us cook for 6 all the time, & those of usin small households tend to buy our fish dismantled (PS if you read this guys, look at Rose Elliot's Bean Book for an example of an almost perfect ingredient-led index).
A splendid book of reference - By: Bluebell, 25 Oct 2008 
This is a major work of reference for anyone interestedin fish cookery & sustainable fish buying. Everything you need to know about buying, gutting, filleting & cooking of every kind of fish & shellfish is dealt with & even how to kill fish & shellfish if you get them live.
I find the information about the best times of year to buy all the different species of fish & shellfish very useful. There are also lists of fish suppliers, including those who do mail-order for those who do not have easy access to good quality fish.
Sole trader - By: Gaz Pacho, 29 Jul 2008 Great book to accompany a great series. Hugh isn't the cleanest looking cook around but he's certainly one of the most enthusiastic. My favourite scenes from the series were where he was cooking 'spoots' for the two clam divers. A hot pan, flash fried spoots, a sprinkling of paprika & they were won over! I just wanted to wash Hugh's hair & give him a big pat on the head.
Encyclopaedia and cookbook in one - By: Miss Cranky, 22 May 2008 Book is mostly aimed at people passionate about fish & cooking it & contains lots of information about fish, fishing practises etc. I personally was only looking for simple healthy recipes but I am still very happy with it. Was slightly disappointed with the number of recipes, however I love the description of each type of fish with comments on how best to cook this particular fish. With other cookbooks, you only have a dozen recipes for half a dozen types of fish, & are stuck if you have got anything that does not fit the list. Here, each recipe has suggestions on what other types of fish to use. And of course they know what they are talking about, it is all simple & elegant.
A Great book by a modern great. - By: A. Upton, 27 Mar 2008 This book contains everything you would ever need to know about seafood & a lot more. From how to open shell fish, how to fish for them, how to refrigerate/ freeze them. It is great as a reference book, but comes into its own as a cookbook.
Hugh is a magnificent chef some of the food I have cooked tasted amazing. With such simple recipes/ ingredients this book is a winner. Buy it now.
But make sure the fish is as fresh as possible & the fish is sustainabley caught
Thank you.
