Thursday, 14 April 2016

A Tasty Treat


Tamworth Lit Fest – What’s Cooking?   By Sue Flint©
Thursday 14th April 2016

Venue: Tamworth College

Demonstration courtesy of Christopher’s Restaurant – Chef Max cooking Wild Sea Bass.

Christopher Gill looked on as his new young Chef introduced himself and began scaling the gutted large fresh sea bass.  I was glad to see not a speck of blood or guts on his ‘chef whites’, an aptly placed towel tucked into his waistband came in very handy.   Having cut the fins off with kitchen scissors he placed the fish inside a large plastic bag and, using a scaler tool, released the scales without them flying all over the surrounding stainless steel work surfaces.

Max told the young college students and visitors that he had only been at Christopher’s Restaurant for two weeks having previously worked at The Belfry Hotel and Golf Resort.  His youthful exuberance gave the students food for thought as he encouraged them to work towards getting their VRQ Level 3 examination, perhaps working part time to acquire catering experience too.  At 21 he appeared extremely confident in his work and obviously loved his job.

He used a very flexible knife to remove the spine and bones followed by some tweezers to pull out any small remaining bones.  A good sprinkling of salt, to bring out the flavour, covered the flesh before placing the skin side into hot oil in the frying pan. The blue flame of gas heated the metal and it soon crisped the skin.

Max was an excellent multi-tasker tossing spinach, salt and nutmeg in a battered old iron saucepan whilst in another carefully making a white butter sauce, as well as giving us details of all ingredients.  He artistically plated up a scrumptious speciality dish, a feast for the eyes making our taste-buds tingle, which was then divided for all to enjoy. 

As a frequent consumer of good food at Christopher’s Restaurant in The Peel Hotel, this will certainly be my choice from the menu on my next visit.


Sea bass on a bed of spinach with white butter sauce
 Christopher Gill and Max from The Peel Hotel, Christopher's Restaurant

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