Rotto herring

• SERVES 4 •

I grew up in the Western Australian port city of Fremantle. I have fond memories of jumping into an old aluminium dinghy with Dad and heading 12 miles offshore, to Rottnest Island (Rotto) to catch herring. The best fish you will ever eat are the ones you catch yourself. This recipe works well with most oily fish.

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

10 herring, scaled, cleaned and filleted (skin on)

WARM DRESSING

zest of 1 orange

3 tablespoons orange juice

3 tablespoons lemon juice

a dash of olive oil

1 long red chilli, thinly sliced

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

3 sevillano (queen) green olives, pitted and roughly chopped

1 large handful of coriander (cilantro) leaves, finely chopped

MIX all of the dressing ingredients together in a bowl, taste for balance of flavours and season with salt and pepper.

HEAT the olive oil in a large frying pan. Lay the herring fillets, skin side down, in the pan and fry for a few minutes until they start to curl up and are almost cooked through.

TURN the herring over and immediately pour the dressing over the fish in the pan. Cook for a further minute, or until the fish flakes easily and is cooked through.

SERVE in the pan at the table with an extra drizzle of olive oil.

DELICIOUS with a simple green salad and some crusty bread.

NOTE: If you don’t have a large enough frying pan, cook the fish in two batches. Fry the first batch, remove it from the pan and fry the second batch; then return the first batch to the pan with the second batch, pour the dressing over and cook for 1 minute, or until the fish flakes easily.