Recipe 20 ➺ Almay Jordaan
Grilled Mackerel with Fennel Vierge
Almay Jordaan’s foray into the kitchen began around a braai, the barbecue that belongs in every South African household. Burning the grapevine wood from her family’s table grape farm in South Africa, Almay learned to perfectly grill chops, chicken and everything in between over hot embers, appreciating home grown produce and seasonal preserves.
From Cape Town to London, she has hustled in some of the best restaurants the cities had to offer. She found a spot of her own in Melbourne where she opened Neighbourhood Wine with her husband Simon Denman. Two restaurants later, her dishes and provenance minded menus have just the right amount of comfort and intrigue. The great simplicity of seasonality and quality ingredients speaks loud in this grilled mackerel dish. Let great produce stand tall.
Ingredients & Method
1 large or 2 smaller mackerel, butterflied (ask your fishmonger)
1⁄4 white onion, peeled & finely chopped
1⁄4 fennel bulb, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1⁄4 cup olive oil
20g chopped parsley (4-5 sprigs)
20g oregano, chopped 20g chervil, chopped 2 tomatoes, peeled & chopped
2 tbsp sherry vinegar 2 tbsp verjus
Salt & pepper to taste
Vierge Sauce
Place onion, fennel, garlic and olive oil into a pot and slowly cook until soft. This step takes a good 25 minutes, but don’t allow it to caramelise.
Take off the heat and allow to completely cool to room temperature. Add the remaining ingredients (except for the fish) once cooled.
Adjust seasoning according to your taste and set to one side.
Mackerel
Season the skin of the fish, and place it skin-side down in a pan or over hot coals. If cooking in a pan, add a further splash of olive oil. As it fries, liberally season the inside of the fish.
Cook skin-side down for about 3 minutes. For a smaller fillet, flip the fish over and cook for an extra 30 seconds before removing from the heat. A thicker fillet will need another minute or so.
You’ll know the fish is properly cooked when the flesh turns opaque. Remove from the heat and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.
Serve with the warm vierge sauce.