It's the right time of year to get out the barbeque for some Mediterranean style cooking. Apart from the obvious steaks and burgers, there are a number of ways to cook fish on a BBQ.

Recently I had the pleasure of eating the most marvellous salmon cooked on a Plancha, by my friend Ann's husband, Ian. And he generously shared his cooking secret, "Buy thick cuts or a whole side and rub the fish generously all over with oil, olive is good but even cheaper oils work fine, and grill for a very short time, no longer than 8 minutes total, for thick cuts."

Similar to a barbeque grill, the Plancha, or as its sometimes called La Plancha, in deference to its Spanish origins, is a flat top metal grill made from cast iron or Teflon coated metal. With a Plancha food cooks very quickly and needs very little fat. The grill comes in different sizes and can be used on a table top.

Of course no matter what you are cooking, the quality should be the best you can find. A variety of fish can be found here in Hong Kong, just be careful what you choose, it should smell fresh and clean, and saltwater fish should smell of the sea. If it is a whole fish, head intact, the eyes should be bright, the scales shiny, and most importantly, the gills should be pink or red. Poke the fish with your finger. it should feel firm and resilient.

Fillets and fish steaks should be quite moist and firm with fresh, translucent colour.

Ideal for grilling, the cod family of saltwater white fish includes haddock, hake, colley and whiting. The flatfish family, including halibut, plaice, sole and turbot can also be carefully grilled on a Plancha. There are even more choices, sea bass, grey mullet, John Dory, monkfish, sea bream and snapper. Also ideal are oily freshwater fish such as salmon and trout.

Prepared fish are versatile in many ways, and smoking is one of the oldest methods of preserving fish. Centuries before there were refrigerators and freezers, fish and meats were "kept" using a combination of salt and smoke to keep them from spoiling. Smoking to preserve may not be necessary any more, but there are a number of aficionados of smoked fish. Where would a successful hostess or outstanding chef be without smoked salmon, trout or sturgeon to grace a buffet?

Smoked fish is done in two ways: hot-smoked or cold-smoked. In hot-smoking, the fish is subjected to a blast of hot air and then slowly cured in the smoke from a hot fire of wood-chips or sawdust. This is ready-to-eat as the smoking also cooks it.

Cold-smoking fish is different, firstly the fish is dry-salted or brined, (soaked in heavily salted water) before smoke-curing takes place over a slow burning wood fire. Some cold-smoked fish can be eaten raw.

Smoking, whether hot or cold, doesn't destroy the nutrients in the fish.

Cod and haddock fillets are cold-smoked. One of the tastiest is the Arbroath smokie, small whole hot-smoked haddock from Scotland but it's hard to find in Hong Kong. It's counterpart, un-dyed smoked haddock is available in better outlets here. Try to avoid bright yellow smoked haddock as they are artificially dyed. Look for the natural pale, golden un-dyed fillets, as they have a better flavour.

Haddock has a smaller flake than cod and is a little sweeter in flavour. Haddock can be grilled, poached or incorporated into a soup/stew.

One of the worst things you can do to fish is to overcook it, and as it cooks very quickly on the Plancha it needs to be carefully watched. Properly cooked fish is moist, tender and full of flavour. Test the fish when it begins to look opaque, about 2-3 minutes.

A lemon sauce is good with fish but for a touch of Neapolitan laid back"far niente" try a tomato sauce made from 6 large tomatoes chopped small, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 2 fresh basil leaves, sea salt to taste and freshly ground black pepper. Gently fry the garlic in a 2 Tbsp olive oil for 2 minutes, add the chopped tomatoes and condiments - you may need a pinch of sugar as the tomatoes imported here can be quite acidic, or use tinned Italian tomatoes. Simmer the sauce for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, scrub clean a small handful of mussels, if any are still open, give them a sharp tap with a knife to see if they close - if they don't respond, throw them away.

When the sauce is cooked add the basil leaves, stir well and remove from the heat.

Then add the mussels, close the lid on the pan and leave for a few minutes until the mussels open. Put a generous serving of sauce on the plate and place the fish on top.

Serve with crusty bread and an Italian Sangiovese wine.

Buon appetito!

Food Column

(HK Edition 11/17/2012 page4)