Trout

There are three kinds of trout, the sea trout, brown trout and the rainbow trout: the latter has now become more widely available and less expensive because of notable success up and down the country with commercial fish farming.

These farming methods can produce small trout weighing 6-10 oz (175-275 g), which from frozen will poach in about 10 minutes (6 minutes if fresh). Put some parsley, lemon slices, a bay leaf, peppercorns, onion rings and a few herbs in the poaching water, along with a glass of white wine. When cooked, drain the fish and serve with parsley butter. Alternatively, they can be fried, dipped first in flour, and with a few capers and lemon juice or white wine added to the pan at the end. A lovely, delicate fish, trout also bakes and grills well (but doesn't take to frying): it is in fact an excellent all-round fish.

Sea trout is a variant of the brown trout, and biologically identical. They migrate to the sea in early spring, returning to the waters where they were born every summer thereafter. From a conservation point of view, sea trout should be avoided as they are an endangered species in many parts of the British Isles, particularly west and north-west Scotland and western Ireland, having suffered parasitical damage resulting from intensive salmon farming.

Note: it is normal to leave the heads on.