Outlaw - Nathan Outlaws everyday seafood: from the simplest fish to a seafood feast, 100 Recipes for Home Cooking

Foreword

Its a great honour to write the foreword for this beautiful book, especially as one of the best meals Ive had this year was at Nathans restaurant in Port Isaac. Ive only known Nathan for the past few years, but boy is he an infectious soul. Hes a massive softie with a big heart and one of the nicest guys in the restaurant industry. Our dads are both chefs, and thats probably whats given us the same level of pride for how we behave within the industry, as well as instilling in us an approach to recipe writing that ensures cooking is inclusive and accessible.

That is exactly what Nathan has achieved in this gorgeous book. His honest and uncomplicated approach speaks volumes in these pages. Hes a tall boy with a big presence, but his food is beautifully delicate, thoughtfully presented, and at its core embraces simple, clean, balanced flavours.

For me, this is a real genre buster of a book. Often people are nervous about cooking with seafood, but theres no need to be. On these pages youll find incredible, modern and exciting dishes, and totally doable techniques that will serve you well for the rest of your life. Read through all the handy up-front info to get you in the right spirit, then pick your recipes and get cooking.

Mr Outlaw certainly isnt messing about, and as well as everything looking and sounding phenomenal, hes definitely got all the bases covered. From some of the quickest most delicate raw dishes which I think are my favourites to twists on the classics, such as Crab Scotch quails eggs or Cod and ox cheek stew. Most are super economical if youre buying seasonally, then theres a few things that are a bit naughtier Barbecued jerk lobster with coconut rice Im looking at you! Theres a whole lot to choose from.

Without doubt, Nathan is one of Britains most devoted chefs, but because we like to pigeonhole people we think that hes only about seafood, and although he probably would have married a mermaid should he have had access to one, the desserts in this book are totally delicious, too.

Finally, in crafting this book, Nathan has worked with the lovely David Loftus, one of the best food photographers on the planet and another of my favourite people in the industry, so you can be sure that every photo will inspire you in an instant.

Nice one mate.
Jamie Oliver

Seafood is the best convenience food ever! Thats a bold statement, but its true. Most seafood will cook within minutes much faster than any ready prepared meal and that, for me, is what makes it such a great choice for everyday meal occasions. I wanted to write this book to unlock the myth that seafood is a tricky thing to deal with: its not. Follow my recipes and you will realise just how easy it is to cook.

Each recipe has been tested to make sure it can be cooked successfully at home taking into account timing, availability of ingredients and the equipment needed. Ive done this personally, so I know the recipes work and that youll be able to follow them easily. The biggest single piece of advice I can give you is to read through the method before you start to cook, especially with the slightly more ambitious dishes.

The recipes are a collection of my take on classics from far and wide, with the simple approach to seafood that Im known for. Ive made sure the ingredients are accessible and can be bought easily because I dont want you to be put off by long lists of unfamiliar items.

However, the most significant point about the ingredients is that all the fish and shellfish used in these recipes is sustainable at the time of writing. The importance of sustainability is something I cannot stress enough. Please ask questions when you are buying. Any fishmonger or supplier worth your custom will have an acute awareness of sustainability and know where their seafood has come from. If they cant answer your questions, dont buy from them.

Once you become more confident, I hope youll treat my recipes as a guide rather than stick to them. Feel free to play around with different fish and flavourings. It gives me such pride and pleasure when someone tells me theyve tried a recipe from my book and then cooked it differently next time, adding this or that, and it tasted just as good or better!

The recipes can be scaled up or down to suit your needs, so dont be put off if a recipe serves four and theres just two of you. Just halve the quantities, or double or triple them for a crowd. It will be fine.

And finally, although this book will look lovely on your coffee table, I would much rather see it in the kitchen covered in splatters of food. Ive written it to be used, so please go ahead and enjoy!

Apart from the fact that very fresh seafood tastes wonderful, there are many health benefits. Current guidelines suggest that we should eat at least two portions of fish a week. Not enough if you ask me! Fish is an excellent source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Oily fish has the significant added bonus of being rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which help to keep our heart, joints, skin and eyes healthy. And some of the smaller oily fish can be eaten whole, so they provide a particularly rich source of calcium and phosphorus.

For those who need to follow a low fat diet, the obvious choice is white fish, although not cooked in batter or breadcrumbs. Shellfish is also low in fat and a good source of zinc, iodine, copper and selenium. Mussels, oysters and crab provide a fair amount of omega-3 fatty acids too.

However, we need to set a few limits on the amount of oily fish we consume as they sometimes contain low levels of pollutants, which can build up in the body. It is suggested that we should eat no more than four portions of oily fish per week. For anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding, this reduces to two portions per week.

Bream, bass, turbot and brown crabmeat may also contain low levels of pollutants so it makes sense to eat these in moderation too. Swordfish is not featured in my book, but I should warn you that it can contain significant levels of mercury and should be restricted to a maximum of two portions per week. Anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding should avoid swordfish altogether.

You are now forewarned! But I doubt whether any of you are planning to eat fish at every meal so these issues are unlikely to be a problem.

It goes without saying that you should buy the freshest fish available to you. It could be that you are lucky enough to have a proper fishmonger on your doorstep, or maybe even access to the fishermen themselves. If not, you will find that some of the better supermarkets now employ trained staff on their fish counters, so dont be reticent to buy from them. Remember to take a cool bag with you to bring the fish home in; it will keep that much fresher.