The Stein family look back at a lifetime of recipes

How do you distil 50 years of stories, memories and recipes from one of the UK’s best-known restaurant groups that grew from an unassuming seafood restaurant in the Cornish harbour town of Padstow? The answer is a 300-page hardback tome.

Rick Stein and Jill Stein’s The Seafood Restaurant Cookbook: Recipes and Stories marks half a century in business, and it is clear the Steins are not only outstanding restaurateurs, they are outstanding storytellers too.

In fact, the first 100 pages are devoted not to recipes, but to the stories that have shaped the business and the family over the past five decades. Together they form a remarkable archive, capturing everything from stories of the restaurant’s early days to charting the family’s culinary adventures across far-flung places such as Thailand, Goa, Singapore and Australia, where Rick and Jill travelled with their three sons, Ed, Jack and Charlie, in tow.

The pages are peppered with photographs of the family at a time when long-haul travel was far less commonplace. More importantly, these journeys reveal how the family’s palate evolved, with new ingredients, techniques and flavours gradually shaping the food served back in Padstow.

Each chapter offers 10 recipes per decade, demonstrating the restaurant’s initial lean towards British and French cuisine, such as the feel-good fish pie inspired by Rick’s mother, or Provence-inspired fish and shellfish soup with rouille and croutons. Later recipes, such as squid, mint and coriander salad with roasted rice and Indonesian seafood curry show how the Steins’ adventurous spirit infused their food with a global punch.

Seafood, quite obviously, takes centre stage here, but there is a smattering of gorgeous dessert recipes too, such as summer pudding and crème brûlée ice-cream.

There is something for chefs of all abilities, with practical hints and step-by-step guidance on seafood preparation throughout. Whether it’s skinning a whole flatfish or preparing scallops, the techniques are clearly explained, making even more challenging tasks feel approachable. Ed, Jack and Charlie also contribute, with wine recommendations, chef’s notes and personal insights that add another layer of expertise.

More than a cookbook, the book offers an insight into how and why the Stein Restaurant Group has become one of Britain’s most admired and enduring hospitality businesses.

The Seafood Restaurant: Recipes and Stories by Rick Stein and Jill Stein (£35, John Croft Editions). Cook the squid salad from the book

Photography: ©Rick Stein/Sam A Harris