The freshest recipe ideas from maze Grill for #FishFriday

We dragged maze Grill chefs out of bed at 4am to find new recipe inspiration for Gordon Ramsay Restaurants #FishFriday at London’s Billingsgate fish market.

Nothing inspires cooks like a leisurely walk around a fresh food market. Yet these days all the top suppliers deliver direct to the restaurants – handy, but not quite as stimulating! When chefs want to get their creative juices flowing and devise new dishes, the best thing is for them really is to get out of the kitchen and get their hands dirty. 

So it was when the guys from maze Grill visited London fish market Billingsgate recently.

‘It’s great for us to be able to observe the subtle differences between what is at the market and what we receive in the restaurant kitchens,’ says senior sous chef Krzysztof Czerwinski.

‘Billingsgate is like a toy shop for chefs,’ he adds. ‘The fish is so fresh, and there are so many different varieties.’ What, then, made them head straight for the mackerel? After all, it is one of the most common and inexpensive fish around.

‘Mackerel is really amazing,’ says Krzysztof. ‘Uniquely fatty and full of flavour. Easy to find. A fish you can eat raw, cooked or smoked. But no one respects it enough because it is cheap.’

Our chefs decided to showcase mackerel’s versatility by creating a dish of lightly seasoned raw fish and a whole mackerel smoked on cedar wood in the Big Green Egg barbecue. You can do the same on a lidded barbecue at home, remembering to soak your wooden plank for an hour in water beforehand.

The guys were also very taken with Billingsgate’s Scottish langoustines – at the opposite end of the price spectrum from mackerel! ‘They have a wonderful taste of the sea and really only need a little seasoning,’ says Krzysztof, who likes to serve them simply brushed with flavoured butter.

‘You can play with different flavoured butters for fish and shellfish just as you might with steak,’ he says. ‘Unlike sauces, the butter doesn’t swamp the fish, it just perfumes it.’

Although maze Grill is particularly known for its steaks, many customers order the fish and seafood, especially in summer. ‘And after all,’ says Krzysztof, ‘great fish and shellfish are as special as a t-bone steak.’

So why not skip the fish and chips this week and try this fabulous mackerel recipe for the BBQ and test out your smoking skills at home? And watch the chefs prepare this recipe in the video below.

#FishFriday takes place at Maze Grills, York & Albany, London House and Union Street Café on, yes you guessed it, Fridays. Stay tuned for more delicious fishiness coming your way at Gordon Ramsay Restaurants soon.