Hooked on pike?

Reeling-in a pike on the River Tone in Taunton, Somerset, at the tender age of 14 got Nick Fisher hooked on the fish itself. Twenty-one years, later he still regularly casts a line for the supreme freshwater hunter of our waterways in the Somerset rivers he knew as a boy - and he puts the result of his labours on to his menus at the Marina Hotel in Fowey, Cornwall, where he is head chef.

His enthusiasm for freshwater pike, though, isn't shared by many other UK chefs, a fact that surprises him. "It's a totally underrated fish," he says. "Its flavour and texture are sublime and unique. Depending on where it is caught, it can have either quite a strong, earthy flavour or a subtle one. It's quite unlike any sea fish that you'll ever taste"

The aptly named Fisher, who fishes for pike about four or five times each year, relishes the challenge of introducing it to his diners. "It's certainly proving to be a talking point as customers rarely see it on restaurant menus these days," he says. "We generally sell six to eight portions of pike during a service totalling 50 covers, which I'm quite happy with, but I'm hopeful that we will sell more as its reputation grows."

Why is it, then, that a fish that is indigenous to Britain's inland rivers and that was once highly appreciated at the royal table, has now largely fallen out of favour? There are two main reasons for this. First, the flavour that Fisher so rightly describes as "unique", is deemed by others to be "acquired". Richard Guest, head chef at the Castle Hotel, Taunton, has considered putting pike on his menu as its Englishness would fit in well with the British food that he and the hotel's owner, Kit Chapman, work so hard at promoting. "But I find its flavour is dirty and muddy and I just can't get on with it," he says.

Second, pike is a very bony fish and, consequently, can be fiddly to prepare and eat. For this reason, it's often more likely to be found served as quenelles, rather than as a fillet. Indeed, this is how Anton Edelmann would prefer to serve pike at the Savoy in London. "We serve quenelles of pike on sesame spinach with a lobster sauce, although it is also good served in a broth with other fish," says the hotel's soon-to-leave maître chef des cuisines.

Fisher first cooked pike when he was working at the Compleat Angler in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, in the late 1980s. "It was brought into the kitchen by a local angler," he says. "We served quenelles of pike with sauce nantua, which was quite a trendy dish at the time."

In the intervening years, Fisher has worked at several five-star hotels in London, including the Savoy, the Dorchester and the Lanesborough, as well as at Brazz in Exeter as head chef, but he never saw pike in any of these kitchens. It was not until he arrived at the Marina Hotel that he started to cook with the fish again. Most of the pike that Fisher now prepares is supplied by S&J Seafoods in Plymouth. "They come from gravel pits where the water is very clean, which makes for excellent eating," he says. If the fish come from a muddier environment, they have to be soaked for 20 minutes in acidic water, before preparation.

Fisher pays about £5.95 per kg for pike. On the menu, which is weighted heavily in favour of fish, the price of pike served as a main course is usually £16-£18. Fisher receives the pike - which is greenish-brown with a silver belly - whole. He scales and guts the fish, before washing it well to remove the natural mucus. "It is quite a sticky, gelatinous fish," he explains. The task of boning the fish is fiddly, but one that Fisher believes is worthwhile for the finished product. Using fish tweezers, he painstakingly removes as many bones as possible by feeling along the fillets. "We don't guarantee the fish will be free of bones and most customers understand that," he says.

Fisher's ideal cooking method for pike is to poach it gently in a number of different liquors, whether it be court bouillon, fish stock, Champagne, white wine, red wine or cider. "It doesn't take well to being cooked quickly. The flesh is quite coarse and tight and tends to toughen easily if cooked too harshly. If you pan-fry it, the natural jelly in the pike tends to make it stick."

The earthy flavour of pike, which bears some similarity to other freshwater fish, such as carp and perch, makes it a good match for oysters and other shellfish and, in particular, freshwater crayfish (the classic partner, when used to make a nantua sauce). Spinach, sorrel, parsley and chervil, also make good accompaniments.

Fisher tends to put pike on his weekly-changing gastronomic menu once a fortnight. It has appeared in a number of different guises - poached pike with sorrel purée, carrots and gherkins; fillet of pike with hot horseradish and celery; and poached darne of pike with oysters, crayfish croquettes and anchovy butter sauce (see above). He has also served quenelles of pike with parsley sauce, capers and paprika-flavoured fleurons (see above).

"We are currently serving an old English dish of poached pike in claret with a hint of mace, oranges and oysters," Fisher says. His version is an adaptation of a recipe from the classic angling bible, The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton, published in 1653, the book which gave its name to the hotel where he first cooked pike. "Pike is a great British fish and I'd love to see it on more menus."

Fishing for pike

Nick Fisher likes to go pike fishing in the flatland area of Somerset known as the Somerset Levels, near Wedmore. "The River Axe is full of pike," he says. Marginal vegetation in lowland rivers and lakes is where the fish are most likely to be found.

Traditionally, pike is caught in the winter months, as that is when they are most plentiful in supply. The pike fishing season on some rivers runs from 16 June to 15 March, but many lakes and canals are open all year to pike fishermen.

It's no surprise that the pike is also known as grand loup d'eau (great water wolf). Its slender body belies its voracious nature. A predatory beast, it has a pointed head and jaw, which is full of small, sharp teeth. As well as eating other fish, it is also known to attack ducks and small mammals. Fisher, himself, has seen a pike take a baby duck at Marlow Weir. "I also once caught a 6lb pike, which was then taken by a huge pike which I estimated to be about 25lb." Although pike can grow up to 50lb in weight, a fish weighing around 10-12lb is usually the best for eating. Any bigger and the flesh is only good for quenelles and mousses.

Chefs and pike

Most chefs who use pike avoid the problem of excessive bones by passing the flesh to make quenelles, mousses and terrines. Stephen Shore, chef-proprietor at the Moody Goose in Bath, makes a mousseline of pike, which he serves with a lobster and Cognac sauce and roasted crayfish.

At Brasserie Roux in the Sofitel St James Hotel, London, quenelles of pike lyonnaise are served with sauce nantua and a duxelle of mushrooms and prawns as a starter. Classically, the quenelles are made by combining the pike flesh with butter, eggs and panada (water and flour beaten together over heat to obtain a smooth, dry paste). But, to make them lighter, head chef John Savage makes quenelles using pike flesh, egg whites and cream. Germain Schwab, chef-proprietor of Winteringham Fields, Winteringham, Lincolnshire, makes a terrine of pike with cŠpes. If he wants to be able to serve the pike flesh, he will poach a whole fish, enabling him to remove the flesh from the bones more easily once it is cooked. This he will serve simply with sauce hollandaise and a warm potato salad.

Although Tom Ilic doesn't serve pike at Bonds, the restaurant at Threadneedles hotel in the City of London where he is head chef, he recalls eating the fish in his native Serbia. "We just grilled it and served it with lemon juice or a simple butter sauce," he says. "It also pickles very well, like an escabèche."