Don’t overthink it. Simple ingredients and perfect seasoning are the ways to great fish

There’s a quiet elegance to cooking this fish. It doesn’t demand heavy sauces or intense seasoning.

Lennox Hastie’s whole flounder. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

Along the rugged northern coast of Spain, where the green hills of the Basque country tumble into the cold waters of the Bay of Biscay, you’ll find fishing ports that feel older than the sea itself. Harbours like Getaria, Hondarribia, Bermeo and Lekeitio, where the scent of ­charcoal grills drifts out into the narrow stone streets and mingles with the Atlantic wind. Here, catching and cooking whole fish is a way of life, celebrated in the large open-air grills that line the quayside.

Blackened with decades of use, the sturdy iron parrillas suspend the day’s catch above the fire, seasoned with little more than sea salt and olive oil. There’s something wonderfully honest about cooking a whole fish, its head staring back at you as it looks you in the eye. For me, it is an act of respect and an elemental reminder that fish comes from the sea.

Flounder is a fine specimen for this and, much like sole and turbot, is one of those quiet, ­unassuming fish that hides its brilliance beneath a simple, flat exterior. Found mostly along sandy or muddy seabeds, this flatfish is perfectly adapted to life on the ocean floor.

With both eyes on one side of its head, it lies camouflaged against the bottom; this makes it less visible to predators and allows it to ambush prey. I can’t help but admire how the flattened shape also makes flounders perfect for grilling, their wide surface cooking quickly and evenly whilst creating more caramelisation and, as a result, more flavour.

Like meat, fish cooked on the bone is always better than a fillet. The bones insulate the flesh and slow the cooking, whilst pulling out something delicate and gelatinous from within. When ­perfectly cooked, flounder is just firm enough to lift cleanly from the bone, whilst the flesh remains succulent and yielding.

There’s a quiet elegance to cooking this fish. It doesn’t demand heavy sauces or intense seasoning. A splash of olive oil or brown butter, a squeeze of lemon or a little white wine brings out its mild flavour beautifully without overpowering it.

Likewise, less is more when it comes to accompaniments: a glass of crisp white wine, maybe some new potatoes, and something green like a salad or at this time of year some charred greens or cabbage.

Roasting cabbage is one way of transforming this everyday vegetable (which is often overlooked, or else boiled to ­oblivion) into something burnished and sweet. It is cabbage reimagined, all its brassica bitterness mellowed, the interior still tender but the outer leaves charred to the point of being irresistibly crisp. Whilst a handsome companion to the fish, the addition of some fried chilli, pangrattato and capers make this humble vegetable dish its own veritable showstopper.

How to make a flounder look beautiful. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

It tastes great too. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

Grilled flounder

Ingredients

• 1 whole flounder (approximately 900g-1200g), scaled and gutted
• 120ml olive oil
• Sea salt
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• ½ preserved lemon, rind only, finely sliced
• 1 fresh lemon, half of it juiced and the other half segmented into vesicles (the tiny segments, carefully removed from membranes)
• 40ml dry white wine
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• Extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle

Method

1. Pat the flounder dry and allow to come to room temperature. Rub with olive oil and season generously with sea salt. Fire up your grill to medium-high. You want a good bed of steady, slow-burning embers or an even, medium-high heat – hot enough to crisp the skin but gentle enough to cook the fish through without burning.
2. Place the flounder in a lightly oiled fish rack to keep it flat and make flipping easier. Set the fish rack over the grill. Cook for about 6-8 minutes on the first side, depending on thickness, until the skin is crisp and lifts easily.
3. Flip and cook on the other side for another 6-8 minutes. The flesh should turn opaque; the eyes will pop. Take the fish off the grill and rest it on a warm platter for about 5-6 minutes.
4. Using a sharp knife or scissors, cut along the lateral line (the natural seam that runs down the middle of the fish). Using a spatula, push the flesh away from the spine and gently lift off the top fillet on each side to open the fish.
5. Carefully ease the spine out in one piece if possible. This step makes serving much easier as all the flesh will lift away cleanly.
6. Season the inside of the fish with sea salt, then pour the white wine and the juice of the lemon half over the head of the fish.
7. While the fish rests, heat 100ml olive oil in a small pan over medium heat.
8. Add the sliced garlic and fry gently until just golden and crisp, watching it closely so it doesn’t burn. Strain the hot garlic oil over the fish, retaining the crisp garlic.
9. Close the fish, so it appears whole again, gently laying the fillet back over the bottom half. Strain the juices into a small pan and bring back up to the heat, whisking continuously.
10. A light emulsion should form to then be poured back over the fish. Scatter the fried garlic, preserved lemon, lemon vesicles and chopped parsley over the fish. Serve whole at the table, letting everyone help themselves.

Serves 3-4

Roasted cabbage

Cabbage made delicious. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

Great ingredients are the key Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

Ingredients

• 1 whole medium green savoy or hispi cabbage
• 8 fresh bay leaves
• 1 fresh red chilli, seeds removed, finely sliced
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed
• 170ml olive oil
• 20ml apple cider or white wine vinegar
• Handful fresh breadcrumbs
• Zest of ½ lemon
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• Sea salt

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C. Rinse the cabbage and remove any damaged outer leaves. Trim the base but leave the structure intact as this is what keeps the head together.
2. Quarter the cabbage into wedges. Insert the bay leaves inside the cabbage leaves.
3. Heat a large, heavy-based pan. Add 100ml of olive oil and, when hot, add the cabbage quarters face down. Cook on a medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes until they start to crisp and caramelise. Turn the cabbage quarters onto to the other face and repeat, continuing to cook for 5-6 minutes until golden brown. Rotate once more and place on the exterior of the cabbage with the cut sides facing upwards.
4. Season well and place the cabbage in the oven for 16-18 minutes, until the outer leaves are golden and the cabbage is tender. While the cabbage roasts, make the pangrattato: heat 30ml of olive oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and toast, stirring constantly, until golden and crunchy, about 5-6 minutes. Add the minced garlic, rosemary, lemon zest and a pinch of salt. Toss everything together for 1-2 minutes, then remove from the heat. In a small pan heat 40ml of olive oil and fry the chilli until crisp. Removing the crisp chilli, allow the oil to cool slightly before carefully adding the vinegar. Once the cabbage is roasted, pour this vinegar chilli oil mixture over the cabbage, remove from the oven and allow to rest.
5. Place the whole roasted cabbage on a serving platter. Finish with the fried chilli, capers and pangrattato over the top. Serves 4