Nick Fisher
LATIN NAME
Megrim: Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis. Witch: Glyptocephalus cynoglossus
ALSO KNOWN AS
Megrim: Cornish sole. Witch: Torbay sole; witch flounder
SEASONALITY
Megrim: avoid January–April when spawning. Witch: avoid March–September when spawning
HABITAT
Megrim is common throughout the northeast Atlantic; witch is found all around Europe
MCS RATING
Megrim 3–4; witch 4
REC MINIMUM SIZE
Megrim 25cm; witch 28cm
MORE RECIPES
Dab in a bag; Grilled flounder and tomatoes; Lemon sole poached in butter with thyme
SOURCING
Megrim – and its slightly less ugly cousin, witch – are possibly fish you’ve never even heard of, yet thousands are landed by trawlers and gill netters all around the West Country coast every year. They are generally regarded as lesser members of the sole family. While Lemons and Dovers are soles with supermodel-like features and eye-pleasing, exquisitely camouflaged bodies, megrim and witch are squashy-eyed, big-nosed and tatty-finned species.
So why don’t we know about them? Because, like so many of our great species, they’re exported to Spain and Italy. Over 90 per cent of the megrim and witch caught around our coastline goes abroad without ever making an appearance on the fish slabs of Blighty.
I’m not going to argue they are every bit as good as a Dover to eat, because they aren’t. But they are a quarter of the price and, looks aside, they are still fine fish to cook. Personally, I like to crisp mine first in a searing hot pan, and then finish them off in the oven, smeared with wild garlic pesto or paprika and tomato sauce – they pair up well with stronger and more exciting flavours than some of the more refined flatfish.
Generally both of these fish are by-catch so there is a lack of accurate data about their numbers and no management plan for them. Some are brought in by bottom-dragging beam trawlers (otter-trawled fish is always preferable) and discarding is an issue in some of these trawl fisheries. However, these species are still a great alternative to some of the more glamorous, under-pressure species like cod. Sales of megrim and witch are beginning to increase, which is great – let’s learn to love our uglier soles. The more economic value they have, the greater the motivation to monitor these fisheries.
Occasionally, in order to make megrim and witch sound more attractive, fish merchants sell them pre-filleted and call them pretty things like Torbay Sole, Rockall Sole or even Cornish Sole. Frankly, I’d urge you to forget the names and the faces, and just concentrate on the flesh.
With its rich, crabby sauce, this dish makes megrim magnificent. You could use witch too, of course, or fillets of sole, flounder or dab. Serves 2
A dash of olive or rapeseed oil
A knob of butter
1 large or 2 small megrim, filleted (500–600g in total)
1 shallot or ½ small onion, finely diced
75ml double cream
50g fresh crabmeat (brown and white)
A small bunch of chives, finely chopped
Sea salt and black pepper
Place a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add the oil and butter. When it’s foaming, add the fish fillets, skin side down, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 1 minute, then sprinkle the shallot or onion around the fillets. Keep the shallot or onion moving around the pan then, after a further minute, turn the fillets over with a spatula. After another minute, remove the fillets to warmed serving plates.
Turn the heat up under the pan and add ½ small glass of water and the cream, followed by the crabmeat. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 1 minute until the sauce has thickened. Season the sauce to taste then stir in the chives.
Spoon the rich crab sauce over the megrim fillets and serve straight away. This is good with potatoes, or with lemon verbena pilaf.