Preparation

Preparing fish is easy, however, if you don’t feel up to the task of filleting or skinning fish your fishmonger will be glad to help.

Whole Fish

To prepare whole fish – say salmon or trout for cooking it is important to snip out the gills using a kitchen scissors. Also check that no blood remains along the backbone.

Skinning Fish

Place the fillets on a board with the tail towards you, flesh side up. Using a sharp, flat bladed – not serrated knife make a small nick backwards through the flesh but not through the skin. This gives you something to grip. Change the direction of the knife and keep both knife and skin flat on the board . Work towards the top of the fillet using a saw-like motion. The skin should come away in one piece.

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Removing Bones

To remove the bones from round white fish fillets simply cut the ‘V’ shaped piece containing the bones from the top of the fillet.

Use a tweezers to remove pin bones from salmon and trout.

Shellfish

Opening Oysters

Preparing Mussels

Preparing Lobster