Culinaria: a food column from chef JP McMahon

A Saturday morning is not complete without a visit to our local market. Many of our small suppliers operate from there. I know them all personally. This is important for me, just as important as the provenance of the food. I don’t mean that where are food comes from is not a vital and overarching issue, I just mean that knowing the person who sells you the food, like our fishmonger Stefan, creates a bond that goes beyond the act of purchasing food.

We need to look beyond the label towards the person behind the craft of that product, be it a butcher, a baker or farmer. I like to talk to Stefan about the fish in season (all whitefish is plentiful in March), which are local and wild (turbot) and which ones are foreign (sea bass).

Food in this sense becomes part of our own story: I’m not just buying a piece of fish, I’m engaging in a whole narrative about food, sustainability and community .

As a country, we’re over-reliant on salmon and cod (the first is over-farmed and the second is over-fished). It’s much better to ask what is plentiful or what’s good on that day. In this way, you can save money and the world (if only one fish at a time).

We’re also guilty of over-cooking fish in Ireland. Many cultures serve their fish raw and I see no reason that we cannot serve fish medium rare or even rare (like tuna) in all cases.

For a quick Irish ceviche, blend two parts Irish cider vinegar with one part rapeseed oil and a little sea salt. Slice some white fish (John Dory is good) into little pieces (skin off) and pour marinade over the fish. Leave aside for 10 minutes. Eat.

When cooking fish I cook it skin side down (seasoned with sea salt) in a hot pan with a little oil to ensure the skin gets nice and crispy. Then I flip it over, throw in a good knob of butter and baste until the butter is brown and nutty. That it’s. Nothing else. I abstain from lemon, but you can if you wish. The important thing for me is that the flesh of the fish on the inside is still translucent, moist and tender. JP McMahon