I spent most of my career working with seafood while running Australia’s largest recreational cooking school, Sydney Seafood School at Sydney Fish Market. I love the quality and diversity of Australian seafood and I’ve learnt a bit about preparing it from my chef friends over the years, we even wrote a book on it! Here are some of my favourite seafood recipes.
Sate Lilit Ikan Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Indonesian cooking class! Sate lilit, made from minced meat or seafood, is a specialty of Bali. On neighbouring Lombok minced satays are known as sate pusut and in Sumatra, where the mince is moulded into balls then threaded onto the skewers, it’s called sate pentul. […]
Udang Bakar(Indonesian Roast Prawns) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Indonesian cooking class! I love the presentation of these prawns (‘udang’ in Indonesian) with their heads and tails intact but the meat easily accessible. While udang bakar would traditionally have been grilled over charcoal, these days they can just as easily be baked in […]
Turkish Tuna ‘Meatballs’ (Balik Köftesi) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Turkish cooking class inspired by Somer Sivrioglu! I learnt to make Turkish köfte (meatballs) from my friend Somer Sivrioglu. Traditionally he makes them with a combination of lamb and beef, but his technique – and the secret ingredient of semolina – work just […]
Bagna Cauda Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Northern Italian cooking class! From the landlocked region of Piedmont pressed against the Alps in north-western Italy, bagna càuda was originally a peasant dish that made the most of winter’s limited vegetables by dressing them in a rich garlicky sauce. Bagna means ‘bath’ and càuda, ‘hot’, […]
Prawn Salad with Mustard Fruits Like this recipe? Visit Modena with me on my small group food & wine tour of Northern Italy. This is the pescatarian version of a simple, delicious chicken salad I had in Modena. It’s the mustard fruit, pine nuts and balsamic vinegar that make it special. Of course you could […]
Porcini Risotto with Salmon Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Italian cooking class featuring the food of Emilia-Romagna! While salmon isn’t indigenous to Italian waters – preferring the colder oceans further north – it is very popular in Italy. It’s delicious served with this earthy porcini risotto and the pink flesh contrasts beautifully too. […]
Ocean Trout with Spicy Onion Sauce Cooking fish almost entirely on the skin protects the delicate flesh, keeping it moist and succulent. The skin usually ends up a bit charred and looking slightly the worse for wear, so I usually present the fish flesh side up. The skin still tastes great and, if you like […]
Grilled Prawns with Pear & Walnut Salad Grilled prawns with pear and walnut salad is the perfect dish for entertaining as most of the preparation can be done ahead of time, and cooking the prawns only on the shell side ensures they’ll be the juiciest you’ve ever tasted. Prawns oxidise quickly once they’re caught or […]
Grilled Swordfish with Salmoriglio Swordfish (pesce spada) is one of the most popular fish in the Mediterranean and in southern Italy it’s often served with the classic olive oil and herb sauce, salmoriglio (see video below). It has a wonderful meaty texture but tends to dry out and soften if over cooked, so resist the […]
Spaghetti alle Vongole al Cartoccio Spaghetti alle vongole is the classic Italian clam dish. Vongole means ‘clam’ in Italian and I use the small South Australian vongole that are closest to Italy’s vongole veraci, but you can use any clams or other bivalve for this dish, including mussels. I first had spaghetti alle vongole al […]
