Hot off the press - Fish

The ideal Christmas present for the chef-cook in your life!

Served up at a breakfast launch today in the restaurant Tom's Kitchen, Fish - a new cookbook written by the chef Tom Aikens. A must for any seafood fan, especially as many of the dishes for this book were inspired by Tom Aikens' work with fishermen down here in Cornwall. This is more than just a collection of fish recipes, it includes sections in detail on the preparation and handling of fresh fish and shellfish through to catching, handling and observations on many apsects of the industry in its current setting.

With many fishermen keen to supply chefs and other outlets with tagged and traceable fish the book explores the developing relationship between the catcher and the customer. For anyone in the industry, there are plenty of familiar faces and scenes to be seen in the specially commissioned photography used in this lavishly illustrated book!

We can thank Keith Floyd back in the mid 1980s with his series 'Floyd on Fish' for being the first chef of any repute for starting the ball rolling - we saw him escape from the kitchen to celebrate cooking with the people whom actually catch fish for a living - especially in Cornwall. Floyd the gastronaut's sense of adventure, enthusiasm and willingness to broaden people's culinary experience made a lasting impact - if you can get hold of a copy of the paperback 'Floyd on Fish' (a BBC publcation) you'll see how things have developed.