Operating a top seafood restaurant comes with a great deal of responsibility. Our customers often expect grand dishes like lobster or fruits of the sea but they also want to see innovation, so our menu is constantly evolving. However, the classic dishes never go out of fashion, so deep fried haddock with minted pea purée and chips will always be part of our offering at Ondine.
Fish and chips remains one of the most popular dishes to eat and when done well, it’s not hard to see why. At our other restaurant in Edinburgh, The Fishmarket in Newhaven, we serve our haddock breaded and battered in three different sizes which satisfies most tastes. But once in a while it is good to ring the changes, even with a classic dish.
Over the past year we’ve collaborated with a number of chefs at special pop up events at Ondine as part of the restaurant’s tenth anniversary celebrations.
Last weekend, Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton joined the list that now includes Rick Stein, Tom Brown and Neil Rankin. Currently, Jason is probably one of the leading chefs in the world with 18 excellent restaurants across three different continents. For me, he is one of the most exciting people cooking in the industry right now. Thankfully, despite all the success, he also remains as easygoing and down to earth as he has always been.
When he came to Ondine to cook a special Burns night menu, Jason wanted to serve fish and chips but in his own inimitable way. Remember, Jason was the first British chef to work at El Bulli in Spain when it was the greatest restaurant in the world.
His own Michelin-starred restaurant in London, Pollen Street Social, serves incredibly innovative dishes, so his take on a popular classic was always going to be both interesting and exciting. Thankfully, he has allowed me to share it here.
This recipe is fairly easy to make and looks stunning but it also packs all the flavours you would normally expect from traditional fish and chips. We served it in the restaurant during the special Burns Supper as a delicious canape, but you could absolutely make it at home and impress your dinner guests.
https://www.ondinerestaurant.co.uk
Makes 20
Ingredients
For the ‘chips’:
Confit potato
4 large chipping potatoes (such as Desiree, King Edward or Maris Piper)
1kg clarified butter
For the ‘fish’:
Taramasalata
600ml milk
4 slices white bread
1/2 clove garlic
500ml vegetable oil
225g smoked cod roe
1 lemon, juice only
Bronze fennel, to garnish
For the salt and vinegar powder:
100g malt vinegar powder
20g fine, blended sea salt
Method
1. For the confit potato, start by peeling the potatoes and then grate, working quickly or they will start to oxidise and discolour.
2. Next, use a cooking thermometer, heat the butter to around 160C in a pan on the stove. Season the potato and then add to the hot butter, moving around the pan to ensure it doesn’t stick or burn. Fry for 5 to 6 minutes or until almost tender.
3. When the potato still has a slight bite, remove from the fat and allow to cool and drain as much butter away as possible in a colander or sieve over a large bowl. Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.
4. Next, place the cooked potato between two sheets of non-stick paper. Press between two trays – you want a 2cm thick layer once the potatoes have been pressed – then refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight if preparing in advance.
5. Once cool and pressed, slice the potato into ‘chips’, 5cm long, 2cm wide and 2cm thick. Deep fry in oil at 180C until crisp and golden. Remove and drain on a tray lined with kitchen paper.
6. Mix the salt and vinegar powder together, then use a little to season the potato, leaving additional for dusting over the finished dish.
7. For the taramasalata, the ‘fish’ element of the dish, blitz the bread, cod roe, garlic and milk together in a food processor and slowly add the oil to the mix little by little to emulsify. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.
8. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a plain round nozzle, then when ready to serve, pipe three dots of taramasalata onto the confit potato and place a frond of the bronze fennel on each dot.
9. Use the remaining salt and vinegar powder to dust over the top.
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