Don't Sweat the Aubergine

cook. But you’ll wish you were serving only two, as you will when cooking a good many fish dishes. If I have a larger number to feed, I look for fleshy fish that will fit in my oven or under my grill, or I make a stew ( see here ), or I poach a salmon.
    Do bear in mind that many of the fish mentioned in this chapter are under threat. As I write, the Marine Conservation Society’s list of species one can eat in good conscience includes coley, mackerel, mussels, oysters, pollack, red mullet, sardines or pilchards, scallops, and lemon sole. Other species may be thriving only in certain regions. There are at present, for example, good stocks of Atlantic cod – a species that has been subjected to notorious overfishing – in the north-east Arctic, but not in the North Sea. Haddock stocks in the North Sea are healthy again, and are also good in the north-east Arctic, but are in poor shape off the west coast of Scotland.
POACHED SALMON
    You need a fish kettle – a long, narrow pan with a lid. Unless you have a long, central ring on your hob, you can put the kettle over two rings. Or, if you have a roasting pan deep enough to contain a salmon and water to cover it, try that.
    The traditional fish-poaching liquid is court bouillon – a kind of vegetable stock made with water, aromatic vegetables, vinegar or wine and salt. I have cooked a salmon in court bouillon and in plain, salted water, and cannot say that the latter was less interesting. I suspect that the influence of flavourings in water on a large fish over the course of half an hour’s cooking is minimal. Salt, though, does penetrate the flesh, and tenderizes it.
    Put the salmon in your kettle, cover it with water, add a generous portion of salt, and turn your ring or rings to low/medium. When bubbles start to appear, turn down the heat. 1 From this point, a 1.5kg salmon will take 20 minutes to half an hour to cook. Test with a knife at the thickest point. You can look at the flesh, which should have turned opaque; or you may be able to tell by the feel of the fish, which should be flaky rather than firm.
    Serve, hot or cold (cold is more common), with boiled new potatoes and mayonnaise ( see here ).
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VARIATIONS
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    Nigel Slater recommends this method: you bring the fish slowly to a simmer in water containing 50g of salt for each litre (that’s a lot), put on the lid, turn off the heat, and leave overnight to eat for lunch the next day.
    For 2 people you could poach salmon fillets or steaks. Cook them briefly, in hot water: bring enough salted water to cover them to the boil, turn down the heat, and slip in the salmon. Test after 3 minutes: they’ll probably be ready.
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WHY YOU DO IT
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    1 • Gently does it . Salmon, being fatty, is a forgiving sort of a fish. Nevertheless, it and other fish require the care you give to meat when cooking, and for the same reason: they dry up and toughen if heated for too long. A poaching liquid will cook a fish most sympathetically if kept at a temperature some way below boiling point.
POACHED WHITE FISH
    By white fish, I mean fillets of such fish as cod, haddock, hake, plaice, sole, turbot, brill and sea bass. You can use any kind of pan, including a frying pan, large enough to hold the fish; and, because they cook so easily, you don’t have to cover them completely in liquid. Simply turn them halfway through to immerse the exposed sides. Flat fish fillets can be rolled or folded to fit the pan.
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HOW TO COOK IT
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    For 2
    Bring a couple of ladlefuls of fish stock ( see here ) to a simmer in a saucepan or frying pan. Turn down the heat to the gentlest simmer. Slide in the fish and cook until the flesh becomes milky , turning halfway through if the slices are not completely immersed. Even a chunky piece of cod or haddock won’t take more than 5 minutes in total. Lift out the fish using a slotted spoon, transfer to a warm plate, and put it in the lowest part of a warm oven.
    Turn up the heat under the stock, and boil until you have just a few tablespoons of syrupy liquid. Throw in a small pot (142ml) of double cream, and bubble until thickened. Add 1 tbsp chopped parsley and, away from the heat, a walnut-sized knob of butter. Check the seasoning, and serve the fish with the sauce.
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VARIATIONS
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    You could poach the fish in milk, and use that as the basis for the sauce. Many parsley sauces are béchamels ( see here ), so you could use the poaching liquid to make one of them (if you use stock, the