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The ingredients in this recipe enhance the strong, savoury flavours of the mackerel flesh, but you can use this method for almost any fish. Allow 175g of fresh mackerel per person; this recipe is for 350g of fish, so if you are cooking for more people, adjust the quantities accordingly.
Serves 2
1 onion, finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, finely sliced
75g shiitake or closed-cap button mushrooms, sliced
25g unsalted butter
A sprig each of fresh thyme and flat-leaf parsley
75ml white wine (if increasing the quantity of fish, use a maximum of 150ml —
the liquid will steam several pieces of fish)
Soy sauce
1 slice of lemon 350g fresh mackerel fillets
Salt and pepper
Place the onion, garlic, mushrooms, butter, thyme and parsley in a pan and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes. Add the white wine, bring to the boil and reduce by two-thirds. Turn down the heat and add a few drops of soy sauce and the slice of lemon. Place the fish on top and cover the pan with a lid.
Cook on a low heat for a maximum of five minutes; the cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the fish fillets. Remember that residual heat builds up, so it is worth reducing the time on the hob and leaving the pan off the heat with the lid on for a few minutes before serving. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.
Serve at the table, spooning over the delicious onion mix and the juices.

Heston Blumenthal is the chef and owner of The Fat Duck, the three Michelin starred restaurant in Bray, Berkshire. The Fat Duck was named Best Restaurant in the World in 2005 by Restaurant magazine. Heston's recipes appear in The Sunday Times every week
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I wonder what it would taste like if you replaced the white wine with Noilly Prat. Gotta try this method of cooking fish, it sounds delicious! If it's anything like his method of cooking asparagus, then I'm game.
Willem, Cambridge, England
The last fresh macerel that I ate was in Tenby on holiday. My daughter and I went out in a dinghy ( with motor ) about half a mile from the shore one AM and fished with hand line and " feathers " on the end of a weighted line.
The fish appeared to give themselves up and we had about a dozen large ones in five minutes !!!
Back home we just fried them and I have never tasted mackerel like it since. Superb..........
Campbell, Ludlow, Shropshire
I caught my own Mackerel off Newcastle Rocks, My Granny used to clean them and just dip them in Flour and just gently fry on the Solid Range top! simple as! Yum
Oh Bill, the fish comes from the sea and then the fishmonger, i think you mean just cut out the Middle Man. :-)
Alan Palmer, Redhill,
Craig, you could always use a fishing rod from the harbour, but the distance from Luxembourg to the nearest coast and back again might prove a little bit of overkill. Whatever floats your boat.
Bill, Belfast, N.I.
Thanks Bill. I'll just pop to the beach and get my boat then...
Craig Griffiths, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
As a child we would go to the harbour at Killybegs, get mackerel from that days catch, gutted in front of us by the fisherman, go home and grill it. It is without doubt the best fish I have ever had. Better even than the fresh wild salmon from the same source. If you are going to use this recipe I strongly recommend you get your fish from the sea and not the fishmonger.
Bill, Belfast, N. I.