Techniques

Some foods are naturally much higher in bacteria than others, and need to be handled
with extra care. Raw meat and sh are the most important ones to look out for, as the
bacteria found on them can easily lead to food poisoning if its allowed to spread to
other foods.
Imagine for a minute that youre cooking grilled chicken and salad for dinner. If you chop
up the raw chicken on a chopping board before cooking it, then use that same knife
and board to prepare your salad, the salad will be contaminated with bacteria from the
uncooked chicken. This is called cross-contamination and here are the golden rules for
avoiding it:
Store raw meat and sh on the
bottom shelf of your fridge, and
store food that is ready to be
eaten whether its salad, cheese,
dairy or cooked food on the
shelves above. This is so the
juices from the raw foods cant
drip onto cooked foods and
cross-contaminate them.
If youre preparing raw meat,
chicken or sh on a chopping
board, wash the board, the knife
and your hands thoroughly afterwards so that the bacteria doesnt spread onto food
that is cooked or ready to eat. Some restaurants have different coloured chopping
boards for raw and cooked foods, or for meat, sh and veg, to minimise the chances
of this happening. These are readily available from loads of home and kitchen stores
so you might like to try this at home.
Be aware that there may be germs and bacteria in the soil on any dirty muddy
vegetables. Peel them in the sink, rinse them well before use then remember to clean
the sink and your hands before you do anything else.
Once meat, chicken or sh are cooked, lift them out of the pan and serve them using
clean implements that havent touched any raw food. This applies to barbecuing too;
its a scary thing to see the same tongs that put raw chicken on the barbecue one
minute, lift off cooked chicken the next!
Jamie Oliver. Illustrations by Peter Hamilton.
JAMIESHOMECOOKINGSKILLS.COM
Wash your hands after touching anything that might have bacteria on it, like
the dustbin or the dog, and never ever forget to wash your hands after going to
the bathroom!
Keep the work surfaces in your kitchen clean, wipe them down regularly and use an
antibacterial kitchen spray. Kitchen cloths and sponges can harbour germs, too, so
wash them in hot soapy water and replace them often.
FOLLOW THESE TOP TIPS TO KEEP YOU SAFE WHILE YOURE COOKING
Wear an apron. They arent just
designed to keep your clothes clean;
chefs wear them so that if theyre
splashed with hot oil or water they
can quickly pull the apron away from
themselves before the liquid soaks
through to their skin. Obviously, if
youre rustling up something quick,
like a sandwich, you dont need to
worry, but if youre going to get stuck
into cooking something, its better to
be safe than sorry.
If you spill a little water or oil on the
oor while youre working, tell anyone
else in the room to watch out for it,
then stop and clean it up right away.
Its not a good idea to have people slipping and sliding with pots of boiling water
and sharp knives about. Accidents can happen very easily.
When cooking on the hob, angle your pans so the handles face out to the sides,
over the worktops. You dont want them sticking out over the edge as its really
easy to knock into them and cause a spillage. You also dont want them over the
hob itself as they may get really hot making them more difcult to move around.
If you pick up a hot pan or a pot full of hot oil or water and youre moving it to
the sink or to another part of the kitchen, make sure people around you know
about it dont wait for them to bump into you before you tell them!
Unless youre sure that a metal handle is cool, always pick it up with an oven
glove or with a folded-up tea towel.
Its not a good idea to have small children or pets running around the kitchen
while youre cooking as you dont want them to knock over hot water or oil and
hurt themselves. Youll also have sharp knives out, which can be dangerous in the
wrong hands.
WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO HANDLE
FOOD SAFELY?
Every year, tens of thousands of people
in the UK go to their doctor with some
sort of food poisoning, and thats only the
reported gure; the real gure is probably
much higher. Most of us probably know
what food poisoning feels like: stomach
cramps, sickness and an upset stomach
if youre lucky, and a trip to the hospital
if youre unlucky. Bacteria are everywhere. Some of them are good like the bacterium
that turns milk into yoghurt but a lot of them are bad, and its this kind that gives us
food poisoning. The more bad bacteria there are around, the more likely we are to get
sick.

HOW CAN YOU AVOID FOOD POISONING?
Its pretty much impossible to stamp out bacteria completely, but you can minimise the
conditions they need to grow and multiply: food, moisture, warmth and time.
Make sure you cover food up to stop bacteria in the air landing on it, and nding the
food it needs to grow. Everything should be well wrapped and cooked food should be
covered as soon as its cooled down.
Food stuffs that bacteria particularly like to grow on are:
raw sh
raw meat
dairy products
cooked food of any sort, including soups, stocks and stews
cooked starchy things like rice, pasta and beans
THE BEAUTY OF THE FRIDGE
Keeping things in the fridge deprives bacteria
of the warmth they need to multiply. And
remember, the more time bacteria has to
multiply, the more of them therell be. When
you get back from the shops, make sure you
get any refrigerated or frozen goods stored
away as soon as possible.
Bacteria thrives between 8C and 75C keep food hot if you need to, at above 75C,
and make sure you get leftovers in the fridge as soon as theyve cooled down.
When defrosting food, always make sure it has thawed thoroughly before cooking,
otherwise youre at higher risk of food poisoning during cooking the food may not reach
a high enough internal temperature to kill bacteria.
This is why its really important to check that food is cooked right through to the middle.
Its especially true with meat, it may look done from the outside but theres a high
chance it may be undercooked or even raw on the inside if it hasnt been defrosted
properly rst.
The best habit to get into is defrosting food in a fridge overnight, ensuring its well
covered. Always refer to food packaging labels for further instructions on defrosting.
Its also important to wait for food to cool down to room temperature before it goes in
the fridge. This helps to conserve energy, as your fridge doesnt have to work so hard to
maintain a cool temperature. Just make sure food is loosely covered so ies and other
bugs cant get to it as it cools.

WHATS DIFFERENT ABOUT CANS, BOTTLES AND JARS?
Sealed jars, bottles and cans dont need to go in the fridge because theyve been
pasteurised. This is a heat-treating process that kills any germs inside. If you check the
best before date on the bottom, it may be quite far off, but once that item is open, you
need to treat the food as if its fresh again (see Understanding shelf life).
Anything you dont use should be stored in the fridge and used within a couple of days.
If its in a can, transfer it to a bowl or Tupperware container rst once cans are open to
the air, they can react with food.

REMEMBER You cant see, smell or feel bacteria, so you have to be proactive in
avoiding it it wont warn you of its presence, you have to anticipate it!
Believe it or not, two of the most important stages of cooking are setting up your cooking
area, and clearing it down afterwards. Walk into any good professional kitchen and youll
notice that every utensil has its own spot, all the ingredients are grouped together and
the workspace is very tidy. This sort of organization is one of the rst things chefs are
taught at school, and it even has a fancy French name: mise en place, which translates as
everything in place. Having a clear space to work in means youll be able to focus on the
job you are doing, and do it well.
Good cooks clear away mess as they go, and clean up really well after theyve nished
cooking. This keeps the kitchen clean, safe and hygienic.
BEFORE YOU START COOKING:
Clear away anything you dont need. Give yourself space to lay out ingredients and
room to work. Mug trees, radios, magazines, piles of mail and other clutter should be
put somewhere else.
Wipe down your surfaces, preferably with an antibacterial spray, so everything is clean
when you begin.
Read through the recipe youre about to cook, then get out all the equipment that youre
going to need. Make sure its clean and ready to go so you wont have to stop and look
for something halfway through cooking.
Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and line them up on your workbench. This
will make cooking so much easier and more enjoyable.
If youre going to be cooking in the oven, turn it on so it has time to come up to the
temperature you need.
AFTER:
Make sure all your appliances are unplugged, and your oven, grill, and hob are all
turned off.
Put away any ingredients you no longer need.
Store any leftover food in clean containers then let it cool before covering and
putting in the fridge.
Wash up your dirty dishes and pans.
Wipe down your surfaces and hob, preferably with an antibacterial spray, to make sure
everythings nice and clean for the next time.
Check the foor. If youve dropped any food or liquid, clean it up so nobody slips on it.
A sharp knife and good technique can make you fast and efcient in the kitchen, but you
have to respect these tools and always keep your mind focused on what you are doing.
If you go to the video section of this website: www.jamieshomeccookingskills.com/videos
youll nd helpful videos of all sorts of knife skills. Practice these until they start to feel
natural. DO NOT try to chop or slice quickly right away. It takes years of practice for chefs
to be able to slice, dice and chop quickly and youre bound to hurt yourself if you try to
imitate this.
TIPS FOR KNIFE SAFETY
This might sound strange, but one of the easiest ways to avoid accidents in the kitchen
is to ensure your knives are sharp. If you use a blunt knife, youll have to use more force
when you push down and thats when things can slip. Keep knifes sharpened using a long
metal rod called a steel and watch the video in the video section to learn how to do
this safely: www.jamieshomecookingskills.com/videos/how-to-sharpen-knives.
Use the right knife for the right job. A paring knife should be used to trim and peel
smaller ingredients, a chefs knife for chopping, dicing and slicing, and a serrated bread
knife to halve a loaf of bread.
Always lay a damp cloth, tea towel or piece of kitchen paper underneath a chopping
board before using. This will stop the board slipping as you chop.
Keep the handle of your knife clean. If you get grease or oil on it, stop what youre doing
and wash it off so your grip on the knife is good at all times.
Do not walk around the kitchen with the blade of your knife facing out! Hold it facing
down, and tell people what you are doing so they dont bump into you.
Pay attention to what youre doing. It only takes a fraction of a second to make a mistake.
When youve fnished with a knife, either clean it and put it away immediately, or put
it somewhere where people can see it. The worst place you can leave a knife is in a sink
under a whole lot of other stuff, or in soapy water where other people might reach in to
wash something without thinking.
If you dont have a knife block for your knives, lay them at in an uncluttered drawer
where everyone can see them.
Putting them in a drawer with
tongs, whisks, wooden spoons
and other utensils where
you have to rummage around is
a bad idea.
When it comes to cooking, temperatures are measured in one of three ways: Celsius
(C), Farenheit (F) or gas mark. These are simply different ways of expressing the same
temperature, so its nothing to worry about. All ovens vary, and you may not have all
of these temperature settings on the oven you are using. If a recipe tells you to cook
something at 200C, but your oven only has Fahrenheit, use the chart below to make
the conversion and youll know you need to set your oven to 400F.
This might sound strange, but the more you use your oven, the better youll get to know
its personality. You might nd that a sh pie that takes 20 minutes in the oven at school,
takes 25 or 30 minutes when you cook it at home at the same temperature. So use
recipe timings as a guide, and if the recipe tells you to cook something for 25 minutes,
or until crisp and golden, check on the food. If it looks ready after 20 minutes, take it
out. Your intuition will usually be right.
Very low 110C 225F gas
Very low 130C 250F gas
Cool 140C 275F gas 1
Slow 150C 300F gas 2
Medium low 160C / 170C 325F gas 3
Medium 180C 350F gas 4
Medium hot 190C 375F gas 5
Hot 200C 400F gas 6
Very hot 220C 425F gas 7
Very hot 230C 450F gas 8
Full whack 240C 475F gas 9
ACCURACY IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS
Baking is a lot of fun, and the results can be really special.
Things like cakes, cupcakes, mufns and puddings are
all examples of delicious baked foods. But unlike a lot of
cooking, where you can freestyle a bit and make it up as
you go, baking can be quite temperamental. To get the best
results, try to follow the instructions, measurements and
timings in recipes as precisely as you can, and make sure
you use the correct ingredients.
Jamie says, I was never brilliant at maths, but desserts are
kind of like an equation if you combine the right things
in the right proportions you will get the same answer every
time. So, when youre following a recipe for a cake, pastry
or biscuits, you have to follow it strictly otherwise what
you end up taking out of the oven will probably not be quite what you wanted to make!
WHAT ARE SPONGES AND CAKES MADE OF?
Sponges and cakes are usually made from a basic mixture of
fat, sugar, eggs and our. Often the our has a raising agent
added to it to create bubbles in the cake as it cooks, making it
spongy and light. Baking powder is the most commonly used
raising agent, and if a recipe doesnt use self-raising our,
youll probably need to add baking powder to your plain our
to make your cake rise.
If the sponge you are making is quite simple, you can play
around with the avours in your topping or lling. You can
make all sorts of delicious icings and use sliced fruit, shavings
of chocolate or even edible ower petals to create a real
showstopper of a dessert.
HOW CAN I ENSURE I GET THE BEST RESULTS?
Measuring the ingredients exactly is the key to success, so,
accurate scales are a very important piece of equipment. You can
buy see-saw scales with weights that you balance, spring balance
scales with a clock face, or electronic scales with a digital display.
Make sure the scales are set to zero before you start.
Always start with clean equipment. A bowl that was
clean when you put it away last time might have
gathered dust since then, and this could affect the
way your recipe turns out. For example, meringues
are very temperamental and if the equipment used
to make them isnt sparkling clean, they may not
turn out well. So check your bowls, whisks and
other equipment before you start cooking, and wash
anything you arent sure about.
Theres no point having clean equipment if your work surface and hands are dirty. So clear
away any clutter before you start, then give the surface and your hands a good scrub.
Having the correct oven temperature is crucial when baking. All ovens are different,
thats just a fact of life. Its a good idea to buy a small oven thermometer from a cooks
shop and put it in your oven while you bake. That way, you can turn the oven up or
down to get the temperature you need (see Temperature conversion chart).
Resist the temptation to open the oven door because every time you do, the heat will
rush out and cool the oven down. If your oven is old, it might take 5 minutes or more for
it to come back up to the right temperature. Look through the window instead and only
open the door if you absolutely need to.

This guide is here to help you understand more about the different cuts of beef available and the sort of cooking method
each cut is best suited to.
1. SHOULDER
This part of the animal works hard, so its full of muscle. This means it takes longer to become tender so it is usually boned and diced to be
used in stews or made into mince (see All about mince).
2. RIBS AND RIB-EYE STEAK
Ribs are kept together to make a roasting joint or cut into individual ribs to serve two people. The centre of the rib is called the rib-eye.
This can be lleted off the bone then cut into rib-eye steaks. These have a marble of fat in the middle and can be pan-fried or barbecued.
3. SIRLOIN
Taken off the bone, it can be cut into sirloin steaks for pan-frying or barbecuing, or it can be roasted whole and carved.
4. RUMP STEAK
This cut is always boneless and, although not as tender as other steaks, its very juicy and tasty. Lovely grilled or barbecued.
5. FILLET
The llet is the long muscle you nd inside a cow, running along either side of the spine. Its very tender and soft and is often cut into llet
steaks for pan-frying and barbecuing, or roasted in one piece.
6. LEG
There are basically three cuts of meat in the leg: top side, top rump and silverside. Top side and top rump are large muscles that are cut
into pieces and tied up with string for roasting. Silverside is a little bit tough, so it is often used to make salt beef or corned beef.
7. SHIN
Usually taken from the front of legs, this is the toughest cut of beef. But when cooked slowly in a stew becomes meltingly soft and
delicious.
8. BRISKET
Another tough but tasty cut of beef taken from the chest. Fantastic when boiled, braised or slowly roasted.
Jamie Oliver.
Jamie Oliver. Illustration Alice Tait
Jamie says, If you boil the life out of vegetables then plonk them on the table, theyre
going to be soggy, avourless and horrible. Give them some love by cooking them
properly, then avour them with something exciting and even the fussiest eaters will
want a plate.
WHY ARE VEGETABLES SO IMPORTANT?
Vegetables are a fantastic source of vitamins and
minerals and often only contain a modest amount
of calories. Eating a variety of different vegetables
means youll get a great range of different vitamins and
minerals.
There is such a plentiful array of vegetables to choose
from throughout the year that you should never get bored.
Jersey Royal new potatoes, asparagus and baby carrots
are at their best in the spring; fresh peas and broad beans are great summer vegetables and
heartier root veg, like parsnips and squash, are around throughout the autumn and winter.
To see whats in season each week in the UK, check out: www.eattheseasons.co.uk
WHAT VEGETABLES SHOULD WE EAT?
To have a healthy diet, we should all be eating at least 5 a day when it comes to
portions of fruit and vegetables (see Getting your 5 a day). But quality is just as
important as quantity. Its best to buy local, in-season produce and consume it fairly
soon after purchase, as the nutrient content of vegetables deteriorates quickly once
picked. In-season produce will be also be at its best avour-wise. Farmers markets are
a brilliant place to pick up fresh local produce and youll often nd lots of wonderful and
perhaps unfamiliar veg that you may not see in the supermarket. Buying locally and in
season should also work out a bit cheaper.
Lots of producers now run vegetable box delivery schemes. Theyll deliver local,
in-season vegetables direct to your doorstep and youll
be able to customise your selection to suit your tastes.
If you want to be adventurous, you can just let them
choose for you then try new recipes out every time
you get something different.
HOW TO COOK VEGETABLES
There are lots of different ways to cook vegetables so you
dont have to stick with the same cooking method every time.
The most common methods are: boiling, steaming, frying,
roasting, baking and stir-frying.
The cooking process changes the texture of vegetables by
softening the plant cells and releasing avours. Its worth
remembering that the nutrient content of vegetables can
deteriorate during cooking, so its always good to have a
mixture of raw and cooked vegetables as part of your daily
diet. Have a look into which vegetables can be eaten raw,
you might be surprised. The Root vegetable salad with grilled
chilli dressing is a great example of how vegetables we often
cook one way can be used differently.
If you dont have time to keep an eye on the vegetables when youre cooking, its best
not to boil them. If you leave them too long, by accident, theyll lose their avour and
their nutrients will leach into the water. Keep cooking time to a minimum and try to re-
use cooking water for stocks, soups and gravies, if you can.
Steaming and stir-frying are both quick cooking
methods that help vegetables to maintain their
nice, rm texture. Because of the shorter cooking
time, nutrient loss is also kept to a minimum.
When you bake or roast vegetables in the oven,
you can create a greater depth of avour as none
of the avour escapes and the sugars start to
caramelise.
When eating out, you might want to think twice about eating vegetables that are deep-
fried or served in rich, creamy sauces. Theyll be full of added calories and fat. As a
general rule, vegetables that have been dressed and served simply usually taste the best,
and are better for you.
To nd out more about vegetables visit: www.thinkvegetables.co.uk/index.asp
For thousands of years, grains and pulses have been harvested for food. Grains like
wheat and rice, and pulses like lentils, chickpeas or corn, can all be dried, and then
ground into the ne powder we call our. When our is mixed with water, it makes
dough, and this can be shaped and cooked in hundreds of different ways.
in Italy, wheat our is mixed with eggs and water then rolled into different pasta shapes
(see Perfect pasta); in North Africa, semolina dough is turned into tiny grains of
couscous and then steamed and served with stews called tagines; Native Americans
make dough from corn our, then roll it at for their cornbreads; and in China, wheat
or rice dough is stretched into long thin noodles, or rolled at for the thin pancakes you
often get with crispy duck.
But perhaps the most common use for our across the world is as a main ingredient
in bread.
WHAT IS BREAD MADE OF?
In its simplest form, most bread is simply
a mixture of our and water, with a little
seasoning. Once again, different parts of
the world all have their own takes on this
food staple:
Italy: dough is made from wheat then rolled
out and turned into all sorts of breads
including ciabatta and foccacia.
Scandinavia: rye four is used to make
thin, dry crisp breads that can then be
kept and eaten over a long period of time.
Middle East: wheat four is used to make soft round pita breads.
India: wholewheat four is rolled out for chappatis and rotis then served with curries.
WHY ARE LOAVES OF BREAD SO DIFFERENT TO FLATBREADS?
Flatbreads are the most straightforward type of bread. Flour is mixed with water,
seasoning, and any avours the baker wants to add then rolled into at rounds and
grilled over a re, baked in an oven or pan-fried.
Breads that rise when baked are slightly more involved because there have to be bubbles
in the water that gets added to the our. As the bread bakes, these bubbles expand,
making the bread puffy, springy and soft. Those crucial bubbles come from yeast, which
is a natural micro-organism. When yeast comes into contact with the starch from our, it
creates lots of tiny gas bubbles of carbon dioxide.
In the past, people mixed a small amount of water with our then left that to ferment in
the sun. This allowed any natural yeasts oating around in the atmosphere to land in the
liquid and start producing bubbles of carbon dioxide. As the yeast multiplied, the liquid
would become bubblier until eventually, that bubbly sludgy liquid could be added to our
to make dough. Bread made in this old-fashioned way is called sourdough bread. The
baker adds a little water and our to the rest of the liquid and keeps it cool until the next
day when he can use this starter to make another batch of bread.
HOW IS BREAD MADE TODAY?

Youll still see sourdough in some supermarkets
and bakeries, but for the most part, bread
makers dont bother making a starter as they
can add packets of dried yeast to make their
bubbles. People all around the world use dried
yeast to make bread that rises.
CAN YOU BAKE BREAD AT HOME?
Yes! All you need to make bread is our, water, a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar, yeast
and an oven. Scales will help you get the quantities spot on, and baking the bread in a
baking tray or tin will give the nished loaf a nice shape. Once youve mastered a basic
bread dough recipe (see Basic bread) youll be able to add your own personality to the
bread by adding all sorts of different avours.
Jamie Oliver.
This guide is here to help you understand more about the different cuts of chicken available and the sort of cooking method
each cut is best suited to.
1. BREAST
This is probably the most popular part of the chicken. It can be sold as a whole breast, with the skin off, or on, or sliced up into
smaller pieces. If you like white meat and no bones, the breast is for you. It can be pan-fried, stuffed with lovely avours and then
baked, roasted or barbecued. Smaller breast llet pieces can be added to stews, stir-fries, and pies. Just try not to overcook it as it
can sometimes be a bit dry.
2. WINGS
These are the cheapest part of the chicken and fantastic to eat. They come on the bone and when roasted, grilled or barbecued, they
go crispy and delicious.
3. DRUMSTICKS
These are the chickens shins. They come on the bone and are cheap, easy to cook and a big barbecue favourite.
4. THIGHS
These are arguably the tastiest part of the chicken. You can buy them bone in, or bone out. Their meat tends to be darker than
the white breast meat. Because the legs work harder than any other part of the chicken, the meat is rmer and needs longer than
a breast to cook. But if you roast them, then nish them off under the grill or on the barbecue, youll have tender, juicy meat and
wonderful crispy skin.
5. LEGS
Instead of dividing the legs into drumsticks and thighs, try leaving them whole then roasting them in the oven.
Jamie Oliver. Illustration Alice Tait
Youll probably see the same common varieties of sh and shellsh crop up again in
shops and restaurants throughout the UK. The easiest way to categorise them is to
divide them into different groups: round sh, at sh, shellsh and crustaceans (plus a
few extras!), then think of them as little families within these groups.
Round sh: These sh arent actually round, but
if you were to cut across them, you would end
up with round pieces, which is where their name
comes from. In this group youll nd:
The pink-feshed family of salmon, trout, sea trout and rainbow trout. These fsh are
real all-rounders and are brilliant used whole or cut into smaller fllets for poaching,
frying, roasting or baking.
The white faky family of cod, haddock, hake and whiting. These fsh have a very
delicate texture, and need to be handled carefully once cooked as they can ake apart
really easily. Theyre great for roasting, delicious baked with simple favours or deep-
fried in batter for the nations favourite dish: sh and chips.
The oily family of sardines, herring, anchovies and mackerel. These fsh are relatively
small and are wonderful cooked whole, either on the barbecue, in the oven or under the
grill. These sh are often preserved in brine (salty water) or oil and then sold in tins or
jars, or smoked and dried. Kippers, for example, come from smoked and dried mackerel.
The warm water family of bass, bream, mullet and snapper. These fsh have great
avour and are even tastier when cooked whole, either in the oven, on the barbecue
or under the grill. Fillets are fantastic pan-fried.
The meaty tuna and swordfsh brothers. These fsh always come in boneless meaty steaks
that are perfect for barbecuing, griddling or pan-frying. Tuna a brilliant and cheap source
of fsh is also cooked then packed into tins or jars with brine (salty water).
Flat sh: Flat sh are actually at. They spend most of
their time swimming along the seabed. Think of them
as one big family, with halibut, turbot and brill as the
big brothers, and Dover sole, lemon sole, plaice and
dabs as the smaller younger siblings. These sh are
often sold whole because they are great roasted or
grilled, but are also sold in several small llets, which
are good baked or fried.
AND THE REST
There are a few other sh you may nd that
dont t into either of the above categories.
They are:
Monkfsh are a very ugly but very tasty deep-
sea fsh. Monkfsh is a meaty fsh and its
fllets are delicious grilled, roasted or pan-
fried.
Skate is a member of the ray family, it
always comes on the bone and is great
for grilling or roasting.
John Dory is spiny and beautiful and normally sold in fllets for frying,
grilling or barbecuing.
Shellsh: These are small creatures that live inside a hard
protective shell.
Scallops are delicious white nuggets of meat that come in big
crinkly shells. You always take them out of their shells to cook
them and theyre good steamed, fried, grilled or even raw
(as long as theyre really fresh!).
Mussels have deep-blue shells that must be scrubbed clean before use as theyre
always cooked in their shells. The meat inside the shells ranges in colour from creamy
white to deep orange depending on their sex and the time of year. Mussels are brilliant
cooked in the pan with a little cream or tomato sauce and eaten straight out of the shell.
Clams are very small and have very small grey shells. Theyre prepared and cooked
in the same way as mussels and are fantastic cooked simply with garlic and chilli
then tossed through cooked spaghetti.
Oysters have beautiful greenish silver crinkly shells with a creamy little creature
inside. Theyre considered a delicacy by many people and are normally eaten raw on
their own, or with a little lemon, Tabasco sauce and a pinch of black pepper.
Crustaceans: These are sea creatures that have legs
and claws and a protective shell on their backs. They
can swim in the sea or walk around the seabed.
Prawns come in a variety of sizes, from tiny little cold-
water ones to huge tropical ones. They can be cooked in
or out of their shell and are delicious served hot or cold.
Theyre fantastic grilled, barbecued, fried or boiled. Theyre incredibly versatile and can be
used in anything from pasta to stir-fries.
Lobsters are really like bigger, posher prawns. They are much bigger and have
delicious meaty claws. Like prawns they can be cooked in or out of their shells and
are delicious hot or cold. Lobsters are fantastic sliced in half and grilled, or boiled
whole, then chopped into chunks and served with melted butter.
Crabs are thick-shelled creatures that live on the seabed. They are always cooked in
their shell, normally by boiling, and then picked and eaten. You get two kinds of meat
from a crab creamy brown meat from inside the head shell and fne, sweet white
meat from the claws and legs. Crabs are delicious eaten cold in a salad or just picked
out of their shell and eaten with crusty bread and mayonnaise. Crab is also great in
soups and stir-fries.
Other sea creatures: Octopus and squid are
boneless creatures with lots of suckered
legs that swim through the sea.
Octopus are quite tough and thick.
They need to be boiled for quite a while
to become tender enough to eat. Theyre
full of avour and delicious in any kind
of fsh stew, pre-cooked then barbecued
or even boiled.
Squid are tender and soft, and only need
a little frying or grilling to cook them.
Theyre incredibly versatile, and are fantastic sliced up and deep-fried for calamari,
stuffed and braised, boiled and dressed, grilled, fried or barbecued.
To learn more about different types of sh, check out:
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/nutritionessentials/shandshellsh
Sense is very important when buying sh and were not just talking about common
sense; sight, smell and touch all come into it.
While some meat can actually benet by quite literally hanging around for a few days
or even weeks (see Shopping for beef), sh is another story. Freshness is everything
because when sh has just been caught it has a fabulous delicate avour and juicy
texture. When it becomes old, it can be strong-tasting, smelly and dried out, which is not
good.
As a general rule, Mondays are not a great day to buy sh because shing boats dont go
out on Sundays. That means the sh being sold on a Monday was probably caught on
Friday or, at the latest, Saturday, so might not be at its freshest. The exception to this is
farmed trout and salmon, which can be caught any day of the week.
If you know what to look for, your eyes, nose and ngertips will tell you whats been
freshly caught and also whats been hanging around for a couple of days.
USE YOUR EYES
Fresh fsh has shiny almost slimy skin like its just
come out of the water.
Scaly fsh like salmon, sardines or red mullet should
have all their scales intact not half rubbed off.
Fish should have bright clear eyes, not cloudy or glazed over, and healthy red gills.
Fillets of fsh should be shiny and look wet. The fesh should not be faking apart.
Look at the display of fsh. If theyre neatly laid out on the ice it shows that the
shmonger cares about what hes selling. If theyre carelessly thrown in a pile so the
llets are bent and aking apart, be wary. Just imagine what the fridge in the back
must look like!
USE YOUR NOSE
Fresh fsh never ever smells fshy. It smells of the sea.
Dont be afraid to get close to the fish and
take a good sniff. Trust what your nose tells you.
Strong fshy smells in a fshmongers are a bad sign, and if you smell anything like
ammonia, its time to turn around and walk out the door!
USE YOUR HANDS
Reach out and touch the fsh if you can. It should be slippery and wet like its just
come out of the sea.
Press it lightly. It should be frm and slightly
rubbery to the touch.
Fish that has hard, dry skin or is squishy
and soft to the touch is t for the bin, not
your frying pan!
Trust your senses, they wont lie to you. You just need to learn to interpret and understand
what theyre telling you and have a bit of condence. If you dont feel you can do any of
this because the sh is behind a counter, dont be afraid to ask your shmonger to let
you see the fsh up close. Remember, if their goods are up to scratch they should have
nothing to hide.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BUYING SUSTAINABLE FISH
Theres a lot of information around suggesting we should be buying sh from sustainable
sources. If a sh or shellsh comes from a sustainable source, that means it has been
caught in an area of the sea where the amount of shing taking place isnt causing the
population of sh to deplete, and by a shery whose shing does not cause too much
damage to the surrounding environment or other wildlife.
Jamie says: Im right in the game, listening to shermen and talking to suppliers and
when I say sustainability feels like a moving target its because the sh are, literally,
moving all the time.
What Jamie means is that while a type of sh may be endangered in one part of the
world, it could be thriving and therefore sustainable 2,000 miles away. One way to
try and keep on top of this is to use the Marine Stewardship Councils logo (MSC) as
a guide. When you see their logo on a pack of sh, you can be assured that it comes
from a sustainable source. The MSC is a small organisation that independently certies
sheries based on how well-managed or sustainable their sources are.
They are working their way around sheries all over the world, working out what is and
isnt endangered. Because they are a small organisation, they havent made it to all of
the sheries yet. So if a pack of sh doesnt have their logo, it doesnt necessarily mean
its not sustainable; it could mean the MSC hasnt evaluated
that particular shery.
Like Jamie says, its a moving target. The best thing you
can do is buy MSC-certied sh when you see it, and
encourage shops to stock it and other people to buy it.
To nd out more about sustainability, visit: www.msc.org

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