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Serves 2

• 2 fresh mackerel - 500g each
• Malden salt. Freshly ground black pepper
• 400g fresh gooseberries
• Juice and zest of 1 lime
• 30g butter

The mackerel must be spankingly fresh, bright healthy eyes, pink gills, shimmering blue-black-green tiger striped back.

A good fishmonger will have displayed the fish already gutted, as they last a little longer and better without the guts.

Mackerel can be a good buy from the supermarket (it pains me to point out), supermarkets need to start with extremely fresh fish if they are to achieve the three or four day shelf life they prefer. If you buy supermarket mackerel that still has three or four days to go before its use-by date, it’s likely to be not long off the boat. It seems odd to think, that fish wrapped in plastic on a supermarket shelf may be fresher than a whole fish presented on a fishmonger’s slab.

Get your mackerel home and give it a good rinse inside and out. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Make a couple of diagonal incisions across the width on each side of each fish. Apart from improving the way in which the fish bakes, it also helps the seasoning.

With a pair of sharp scissors, trim the fins and remove the tail. Off with their heads if you don’t want the fish staring up at you from the dish.

Lightly oil a non-stick baking sheet. Season each fish well inside and out, placing on the baking sheet. Scatter the gooseberries around the fish.

Place the tray in the pre-heated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Thereafter, oven gloves on, out with the tray. Reserve the fish on warmed dinner plates and let them rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile tip the baked gooseberries into a little saucepan on a moderate hob, stir them around with a wooden spoon, add the lime zest and juice.

Break up some of the goose-gogs; leave some whole. A lumpy texture is preferable. Stir in the butter, season and serve with the baked fish.

200g plain flour

125g unsalted butter

75g caster sugar

400-500g gooseberries

1 tbsp elderflower cordial

7 heaped tbsp granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas 5. Put the flour in a mixing bowl and add small cubes of butter. With your fingers, rub the butter and flour together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Tip in the caster sugar and stir briefly.

Top and tail each gooseberry and put them into a baking dish, covering them with granulated sugar & pour over the elderflower cordial. Evenly sprinkle the crumble mix over the gooseberries. For best results, don’t flatten and push the mixture down.

Oven gloves on. Bake for 30-35 minutes in the hot oven. It is ready when the crumble topping is golden brown and the gooseberries are completely soft and tender.

The season for gooseberries is generally mid-June and is very short.Ìý Apart from in fools and crumbles, you don’t often see gooseberries used now, although many years ago the gooseberry was in big demand and several varieties were grown.Ìý For this dish I would steer clear of purple, sweet dessert varieties such as Rukola and Whinham’s Industry.Ìý The balance of the sharp green gooseberries, cider vinegar, honey and chilli is just about right. ÌýIt works well with sweeter fish such as scallops or salmon, or with fattier cuts of meat and poultryÌý

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

12 large fresh, firm scallops, including roes, shelled and cleaned

Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Ìý

Gooseberry ketchup

450g fresh ripe cooking gooseberries

½ tsp hot chilli powder

85g caster sugar

20g runny honey

a large pinch of sea salt

125ml cider wine vinegar

Pick over the gooseberries and remove any stalks, then wash well.Ìý Place the gooseberries and chilli powder into a stainless-steel pan, add enough water to barely cover the bottom of the pan and cook over a gentle heat until you have a thick stew, about 15 minutes.

Liquidise then pass through a fine sieve.Ìý Take care not to liquidise for too long or the sauce may turn slightly bitter.Ìý Return to the pan and add the sugar, honey, salt and vinegar to the sauce.Ìý Bring to the boil and dissolve the sugar then cook down gently until the sauce is thick, similar to double cream.Ìý This will take about 20 – 25 minutes.Ìý Use straightaway.

Heat a non-stick frying pan; then add the olive oil.Ìý Season the scallops well with sea salt and cracked black pepper.Ìý Seal on both sides for a couple of minutes.Ìý Do not overcook.

Serve the scallops with a few sautéed courgette slivers, a couple of tablespoons of the gooseberry ketchup and a scattering of chopped chives.

Ingredients

2½ kg white sugar, either granulated or caster

2 unwaxed lemons

20 fresh elderflower heads, stalks trimmed

85g citric acid (from chemists)

Ìý

Method

Put the sugar and 1.5 litres water into the largest saucepan you have. Gently heat, without boiling, until the sugar has dissolved. Give it a stir every now and again. Pare the zest from the lemons using a potato peeler, then slice the lemons into rounds.

Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the pan of syrup to the boil, then turn off the heat. Fill a washing up bowl with cold water. Give the flowers a gentle swish around to loosen any dirt or bugs. Lift flowers out, gently shake and transfer to the syrup along with the lemons, zest and citric acid, then stir well. Cover the pan and leave to infuse for 24 hrs.

Line a colander with a clean tea towel, then sit it over a large bowl or pan. Ladle in the syrup – let it drip slowly through. Discard the bits left in the towel. Use a funnel and a ladle to fill sterilised bottles (run glass bottles through the dishwasher, or wash well with soapy water. Rinse, then leave to dry in a low oven). The cordial is ready to drink straight away and will keep in the fridge for up to 6 weeks.