Book review: Fish Butchery by Josh Niland
The latest book encouraging ‘scale to tail' consumption of fish from John Niland opens with a startling statistic: it is estimated that 50% of the world's fish that is caught is wasted.
Though you would hope some of that would at least make it to the stock pot, in Fish Butchery Niland asserts that our desire to consume only fillet has made for terrible wastage.
This book is his attempt to change minds and for that, Niland has used the framework applied to meat consumption, hence Fish Butchery. This beautifully illustrated book, with mesmerising images of broken-down fish and creative new cuts, presents some strikingly new ways of not only preparing fish but also of using up what would typically be discarded. Split into three sections, Catch, Cut and Craft, it details how the capture and preservation of fish could be improved, along with new methods of fish preparation and plating.
Though there are two recipes for fish pie, the majority of this book is genuinely exceptional in its approach. As Niland says: "This book is not a call to action for every home cook to make their own fish liver pâté or go about whipping up a quick batch of fish sausages. Instead, I see it as primarily a stimulus for the industry."
This is squarely aimed at every chef looking to squeeze all they can out of their ingredients and to protect the all-important GP by reaching a higher return for a single fish. Along with step-by-step instructions for butterflying fish, cuts such as short rib of tuna (derived from the collar) are dissected, along with French cutlets (rib bone in, spine out) and Barnsley chops (ribs on, pins out). Meanwhile, there are myriad ways of using every gram of your catch on the plate, including versions of salami, rillette, chorizo and a pâté en croute, which features white fish, cured hearts, spleens, kidneys and fish bacon.
And if you needed a talking point after all of this, you could consider surprising guests with a fish eye ice-cream or a fish fat cocktail. So if you work with fish, sharpen your knives and prepare to get creative.
Fish Butchery: Mastering the Catch, Cut and Craft by Josh Niland (Hardie Grant Books, £32)
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