This unexpected but excellent blend of flavours is a perfect example of three-good-things alchemy: full-flavoured oily fish, cut with the crunch of celery and the aromatic sweet-sharp tang of orange flesh. It’s an all-round winner.
Serves 4
1 tablespoon rapeseed, sunflower or olive oil
2 garlic cloves (unpeeled), lightly bashed
2 bay leaves (optional)
8 mackerel fillets from 4 medium fish
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the orange and celery salad
2 large or 3 medium oranges
4 inner celery stalks, plus a few of the leaves
A dash of extra virgin rapeseed or olive oil
A few drops of cider vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salad, using a fine grater, lightly grate the zest from one of the oranges and set aside. Now slice all the peel and pith away from both oranges. To do this, cut a slice off the base of each and stand the orange on a board. Then use a sharp knife to cut down through the peel and pith, slicing it away completely, in sections. Now, working over a bowl to catch any juice, slice the segments of orange out from between the membranes, dropping them into the bowl. Remove any pips as you go. Squeeze out the remaining juice from the orange membrane into the bowl and add the zest.
Strip off any obvious fibres from the outside of the celery stalks, then slice on the diagonal into roughly 1cm pieces. Add to the oranges, along with a little extra virgin oil, a few drops of cider vinegar and some salt and pepper. Arrange on serving plates with a few little roughly torn celery leaves.
You will need to cook the mackerel in two batches if you haven’t a large enough pan to take all the fillets comfortably. Heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and bay, if using, and let sizzle for a minute. Season the mackerel fillets well with salt and pepper, then place in the pan, skin side down. Cook for about 2 minutes, until the skin is crisp, then carefully turn the fillets and finish cooking for a minute or so.
Place the mackerel on top of the salad and serve straight away, with brown bread if you like.
SWAPS Replace the celery with thinly sliced, raw fennel for an equally delicious result. You could also swap the orange with grapefruit, choosing a relatively sweet ruby or pink variety.