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Now living in Canada with his Canadian born wife , Jo-Anne, Andrew Taylor was previously the Chef/Proprietor of the 14th century Crumblehorn Inn at Polperro. Having seen some of the recipes in the food section of the Newlyn website he contacted us with some recipes of his own. We are grateful to Andrew for sharing these with us. Here is what he writes:
I cooked lots of fish at the Inn and became known for it. People liked it because I kept it moist using a little trade secret that I devised. I also never overcooked fish. As soon as it was cooked it was on the plate. Everything was cooked to order. One of my favourites is grilled lemon sole.
Lemon Sole Wash thoroughly, trim off the side fins and tail. Slash the white side with three parallel cuts through to the bone in a diamond pattern. Put on to a buttered tray, brush with melted butter, season, add a quarter inch of water to the tray and grill for about fifteen minutes. Grill one side only. Do not turn the fish over. The bottom fillets will poach with the heat from the tray and the water.
Grilling fish with a layer of water on the tray is the secret to producing moist, nicely grilled fish. At the end of cooking, the liquor should have reduced to about a tablespoon and is nice to pour over the fish on the plate. I served about 30 to 40 stone whole lemon soles a year, and got great feedback from customers.
Mackerel Wash well, make four cuts through to the bone, season, insert half slices of lemon into the slashes, and grill as above with a little water underneath. Also works well on the BBQ in a little 'open top' cooking foil boat.
Scallops with Bacon I got this idea from Polperro fisherman Tim Courtis who cooked scallops and bacon on his boat.
In a pan put a little oil and chopped smoked bacon, cook until brown. Add garlic and chopped onion and cook without colouring too much. Add the scallops and a little white wine. Thicken just a little with flour or cornflour mixed with butter. Stir in chopped parsley. The scallops are cooked as soon as they turn white and feel springy to the touch.
Picking up a comment I had made about using golden syrup with clotted cream, Andrew made the point that traditionally in Cornwall 'thunder and lightning' was cream and black treacle, more generally known as molasses. He described a dessert recipe he used which sounds wicked but delicious. A small meringue (about the size of a macaroon ) was broken up and sprinkled over ice cream before clotted cream was added and black treacle drizzled over the confection. Maybe he still serves this dish but it would not be quite the same without proper Cornish clotted cream. Hopefully Andrew will contact us again with more recipes.
Margaret Perry
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