Rick Stein's Seafood Lovers' Guide: Recipes Inspired by a Coastal Journey [Hardcover]

Rick Stein confesses that, following the world-wide peregrinations of his Seafood Odyssey, the prospect of a seafood tour of the coasts of the United Kingdom and Eire seemed humdrum. That he was completely wrong is shown triumphantly by the resulting Seafood Lover's Guide, an account of the fish and shellfish harvested around the coast, where to buy it and how to cook it and eat it. This book will be for many readers an eye-opener in the richness and variety of the country's seafood. Starting from his home in the west country, Stein travels the length of a coastline "of matchless beauty", talking to fishermen, suppliers and cooks. He skilfully maintains a very delicate balance between a chef's enthusiasm for the product, as it were, on the one hand, and a proper dismay at the state of the fisheries after decades of thoughtless over-fishing. Yet the overall mood is optimistic, as he meets so many people who care so passionately about the fruits of the sea. Each regional section contains a choice selection of Stein recipes, some local, some modified, some unapologetically foreign, all expertly crafted (of course) and delicious, all designed to show off the superlative quality of the seafood. Representative highlights might include Gurnard Fillets with a Potato, Garlic and Saffron Broth, Split Herrings with a Caper and Fresh Tomato Salsa, Seafood and White Bean Cassoulet with Salt Cod, Garlic and Toulouse Sausage, and the exquisitely simple Halibut Poached in Olive Oil with Cucumber and Dill. Regional listings of seafood restaurants, fish and chip establishments, fishmongers, seafood suppliers and smokers add further value to this very classy production. --Robin Davidson

'A chatty and informative account of Stein's fishy travels around the UK.'

'..a highly personal book, with most recipes well within the compass of an average-to-decent home cook. Terrific pictures too.'

'There is an honesty to his writing that makes difficult recipes, such as grilled prawns with Pernod and olive oil dressing, seem simple.'

Rick Stein discovers great dishes and small delicacies among the tidal estuaries, shingle banks and rocky shores of Britain. The book is orderd geographically with each chapter covering one of the regions featured in the television series. The book includes area maps and restaurant listings.

"Just as I do in the restaurant to keep ahead of the game, I look for the best suppliers, the freshest fish and who catches them. In a way, this is what this series is about, the fish I love, for all sorts of reasons - not just taste or fashion - where they come from and the people who catch them and the best way to cook them. As a result of looking around the country for the best seafood, it's turned out to be a love affair with the changing coastline of Great Britain and Ireland and the business of going to sea in small boats to catch the freshest prime fish we have." - Rick Stein

Rick Stein and his wife Jill own The Seafood Restaurant in Padstow which attracts thousands of fish lovers (from Britain and abroad) every year. Rick’s first book, English Seafood Cookery, won the 1989 Glenfiddich Award for Food Book of the Year and Taste of the Sea won the 1995 Andre Simon Food Book Award as well as the 1996 Good Food Award for Cookery Book of the Year. His latest bestseller, Seafood Odyssey, has sold over 100,000 copies. Rick, Jill and their three sons live in a house overlooking the sea near Padstow in Cornwall.

‘I’m humbled, after travelling around the world looking at beautiful sunsets on beaches without end and wandering through exotic markets filled with fish and spices, I thought a journey around our own coast would be mundane. How wrong could I have been? I have spent much of the last two years on a series of trips around the coast of the British Isles and Ireland looking for the best seafood, where to buy it and eat it and how it is caught. I found much to enjoy and much to depress me but above all I found a long coastline of matchless beauty. From the rustling shingle beaches along the south coast of England to the soaring cliffs silhouetted against a cold northern sky off the Shetlands, and the falling off the edge of the world feel on lonely stretches of sand in Connemara, these sceptred islands are truly precious stones set in a silver sea.’