Close Encounters is a website which enables you to discover the villages, towns and people of Wessex through old films and new recordings about each place and through the perspectives of the people who live and work there.

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The Riverside Restaurant, West Bay, hosted the Bridport Literary Festival  ‘Good Table’ Event  with author Valentine Warner.   The 80 attendees enjoyed a talk with a question and answer session by Valentine Warner followed by a delicious soup served by the Riverside.

Valentine Warner [a local lad] is known as a culinary adventurer with a passion for food and nature and has regular spots on TV and columns in the national press.   As well as introducing his new book: THE GOOD TABLE in which he pays homage to the art of slow cooking of cheaper cuts of meat,  he also recounted the time when he worked at the Riverside in his youth as a wine waiter. Although remembered with fondness by the Riverside team it was not one of his finest moments, he still holds the record for breaking the most glasses in a service! He did, however, before completing his stint at the Riverside, spend some time in their kitchen where his experimenting with recipes (not always successful) ignited his passion for food.

Ingredients

• 1 medium sized onion
• 1 celery head [100 gms]
• 1 globe of garlic [50 gms]
• 1 sweet red pepper
• 4 large ripe tomatoes
• 2 red chillis
• 1 litre fish/seafood stock
• 400 gms cod loin
• 300 gms small squid sliced
• 250 gms raw prawns
• 300 gms crab meat
• Cayenne Pepper
• Fresh Ground Hungarian Paprika
• Black Pepper
• Ground White Pepper
• Worcester Sauce
• Large glass white wine
• Olive oil
• Unsalted butter
• Soured cream & parsley to serve

Method:

Finely chop the onion, pepper and celery. Crush the garlic. Sweat in the olive oil and butter until soft. Add the chopped skinned tomatoes, white wine and simmer.

Add the stock and the fish, bring to the boil and simmer until cooked through

Gently add peppers, paprika etc with a small splash of Worcester sauce until desired taste is achieved.

Before serving, stir in 2 tablespoons of soured cream and garnish with parsley.

This soup is inspired by the flavours of Hungary, where river fish soup spiced with fresh paprika is a popular and tasty dish.

JÒ ÈTVÀGYAT!

Ingredients

• About 800 g fish [half mackerel and half haddock]
• 500 ml fish stock
• 1 red pepper finely diced
• 1 large onion very finely chopped
• 3 Garlic cloves – crushed
• 500 g passata
• 1 tin coconut milk
• 2 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 red chillies de-seeded & chopped
• 2 inches fresh ginger grated
• 1 lime

Method

Heat a couple of tablespoons of veg oil in a large pan. Add all dried spices and let sizzle for a few minutes to let them infuse.

Add the onions, garlic chillies and red pepper and cook until the onion is softened

Stir in the passata and after heating through for 5 mins or so add the fish stock. Stir well and bring up to a simmer.

Add the mackerel fillets [whole] so they poach in the liquid. Once done [5-10 mins] removed with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the haddock to the pan [chopped into bite size pieces]

Meanwhile chop the mackerel [removing any skin and bones]. Add the mackerel back to the pan. Stir in the coconut milk, squeeze in lime juice. Heat through for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper and then serve.

Ingredients

• 250 g crab meat [mixed brown and white]
• 250 g leaf spinach
• 500 ml fish stock [prepared from heads, bones etc of any white fish and boiled with a sprig of fennel]
• 1 glass dry white wine
• 1 medium onion
• Sprig of fennel
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons double cream
• Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Sweat the onion in the olive oil until the onion is transparent

Boil the spinach for 3 minutes, drain and press out as much water as possible

Put all the ingredients apart from the cream in to a food processor and liquidise for 6-7 minutes

Return to the saucepan, heat and just before serving add the cream and seasoning.

Ingredients

• 400 g smoked haddock fillets chopped into 1” pieces
• 200g new potatoes par boiled and roughly chopped
• Broccoli chopped into small florets
• 1 white onion
• 1 leek
• 25 g butter
• 150 ml double cream
• 1 bay leaf
• 400 mls milk

Method

Par boil potatoes for 10 minutes

Steam the broccoli for approx 5 minustes

Melt the butter in a pan and add the onion and leek. Sweat them until soft

To the onion and leek add milk, cream and the bay leaf and heat through

Add the haddock and simmer for 4 minutes

Add the chopped potatoes and simmer for 6 minutes

To finish add the broccoli florets, remove bay leaf and season soup with black pepper

Serve with triangles of toast

Ingredients

Fishcakes:

• 400g[14oz] waxy pots [Craigs Royals/Majestic/Roseval]
• 50g[2oz] brown crabmeat
• 100g[4oz] white crabmeat
• Dash Tabasco
• Grated lemon zest & juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 1 tbsp capers
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Avocado Salsa:

• 1 Avocado
• ½ small red onion, chopped
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped
• 1 small red pepper, deseeded and chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh coriander
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Ring Cutters or ramekins [7.5cm/3” diameter]

Method

For Fishcake:

Par boil potatoes with skin on for 8/10 mins allow to cool. When cool, skin and grate with medium cheese grater.

Mix crab meat, Tabasco, lemon zeset & juic, parsley, spring onion & capers in a bowl season to taste

Mix potatoes and crab mixture together and spoon into the rings or ramekins to shape.

Heat oven to 200⁰C – drizzle over oil and cook for 10 mins with rings on, remove rings and cook for a further 5 mins

For Salsa:

De-stone avocado and chop into small pieces

Mix all other ingredients together and then add chopped avocado stir and serve

Ingredients

Fishcakes:

• 1lb potatoes
• 1lb smoked mackerel [flaked]
• ½ tsp lemon juice
• Cracked black pepper
• 1 egg [beaten]
• ½ oz butter
• 4 oz breadcrumbs
• Olive oil

Sauce:

• 5 oz fromage frais
• 1 tbsp horseradish sauce
• 2 spring onions [finely chopped]

Method

For the fishcakes:

Boil and mash the potatoes. Mix the fish, black pepper and lemon juice with the mashed potato, with enough beaten egg to bind the mixture

Shape the mixture into eight cakes. Brush with the remaining beaten egg and coat in the breadcrumbs. Chill the fishcakes for about 30 minutes

Heat some oil in a frying pan and shallow fry the fiscakes for about 5 minutes on each side, until golden and crisp

 For the Horseradish Sauce

Place the fromage frais, horseradish sauce and spring onions into a small bowl and mix. Cover and chill until required.

Serves 4 – makes 12 fishcakes

Ingredients

Fishcakes:

• 200g haddock fillet
• 150g smoked haddock
• 300g peeled and boiled Maris Piper potatoes mashed and left to cool
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• Ground black pepper
• 3 spring onions chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1 egg yolk
• Butter
• Sunflower oil

Coating:

• Seasoned plain flour
• 1 egg
• Polenta
• Tomato sauce:
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 tin tomatoes
• 1 tsp dark brown sugar
• Splash Worcester sauce
• Splash balsamic vinegar
• Paprika, salt, pepper to taste
• Bay leaf

Method

For the tomato sauce – heat the olive oil, add onion and garlic, sweat on a gentle heat until soft. Add the tomatoes, sugar, seasoning, Bay leaf, vinegar and Lea & Perrins. Cook for approx. 45-60 minutes depending on consistency required.

Lightly roast the fish with a knob of butter, leave to cool. Mix spring onion and parsley into the mash. Mix fish and potato together with fish sauce, egg yolk and pepper. Form into cakes, coat with flour, dp into beaten egg then finally into polenta, chill for 10 minutes. Heat oil in a small frying pan then fry the fishcakes on a medium heat until golden and crisp.

Serve fishcakes with a dollop of tomato sauce on the side.