Mitch Tonks Kitchen Confidential

Summer may be drawing to a close, but for Mitch Tonks of Dartmouth’s Seahorse, it means cooking with favourites: red mullet, crab and lobster

Cooking With

I’ve travelled and eaten seafood all over the world and I strongly believe that south Devon is England’s best seafood area. Every day you can find me at Brixham market picking up fresh fish, and in late summer I’ll be looking out for crab, plaice and mackerel. When it comes to seafood, the seasons aren’t as precise as they are with fruit and vegetables, so we may end up having a good July, which can spill into August if we’re lucky. But it’s a waiting game.

I will be looking forward to the arrival of red mullet. Some people don’t like to eat it because it’s bony, and chefs tend to use it just for its colour, but I think it’s one of our prime fish and deserves to be up there with Dover sole, turbot and monkfish. Red mullet has to be prepared properly; first take the liver out and serve it with a crostini. Then, grill the fish over a fire to get a lovely smoky taste, which also brings out the flavour from the crispy skin.

My motto is keep it simple but use the best seasonal produce. Lobster is either boiled and served with herb mayonnaise or grilled over the fire with bay olive oil and chilli. A signature dish of ours is lobster caldereta, which is braised in a clay pot in the oven with tomatoes, saffron, wine and herbs and sealed with salt dough, so you create a wonderful flavour in the pot with the fragrant meat of the lobster coming out of the shell. We tend to use seasonal vegetables such as courgettes, potatoes, peas and globe artichokes and serve them very simply to accompany the dishes. One of our most popular dishes is a colourful summer seafood salad – we toss squid, cuttlefish, octopus, shrimps, prawns, mussels and clams together with garlic, extra virgin Tuscan olive oil, parsley and some lemon juice to give it a zesty kick, and serve it with rocket and dandelion leaves.

Who i'm using

I’ve worked with Brixham’s Channel Fisheries for around 10 years now. I’ve also built up a very good relationship with a local fisherman called Sid, who looks a little like a pirate! He provides quality seafood all year round. I work with two butchers, Aubrey Allen in Coventry, and a local butcher based literally just round the corner called Chris McCabe. I source my vegetables from Wilton Farm in Sussex.

Quote

Every day you can find me at Brixham market picking up fresh fish, and in late summer I’ll be looking for crab, plaice and mackerel

Recipe

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