Saturday mornings at eight, six people, two hours: how to choose, fillet, skin and cook a fish, and you take your fish home
Fish school
Two hours on a Saturday morning at the back bench with Siân: how to tell a fresh fish, how to gut and fillet a round fish and a flat fish, how to skin and pin-bone, how to open an oyster and dress a crab, and how to cook what you have done. Six people, £45, your own knife to keep, and you take your fish home. Dates and seats on the order page.
Most people are frightened of a whole fish, and two hours fixes it. The school started because Siân got tired of explaining pin-boning one customer at a time, and it now runs most Saturdays from September to May at eight, before the shop gets busy, at the back bench where the crab is dressed.
What you do: pick a fish off the slab and learn what you are looking for in the eyes, the gills and the smell; gut, scale and fillet a round fish, usually a mackerel or a bass; fillet a flat fish, usually a plaice, which is a different cut; skin and pin-bone both; open an oyster without going to A&E; dress a crab, which takes longer than you think; and then cook a fillet in the pan the way we would, so you know what you are aiming for. You keep the knife, a proper flexible filleting knife, and you take home everything you filleted, on ice, in a bag.
Six people at most, because the bench is six people long. £45, paid when you book, and a voucher for a session is the present that gets bought at Christmas. Children from twelve with an adult. Saturdays at eight from September to May; dates and the seats left are on the order page, and a session with no seats takes a waiting list. We run a shellfish-only evening twice a year and a smoking day in the autumn with the kiln lit.
What you get
- Two hours on a Saturday morning, six people at most
- A round fish and a flat fish filleted, skinned, pin-boned
- An oyster opened and a crab dressed
- A fillet cooked the way we would
- A filleting knife to keep and your fish to take home
- £45; vouchers at the counter; children from twelve with an adult
What it costs
£45 a person for two hours, a filleting knife to keep, and the fish you filleted to take home. Six seats a session; most Saturdays from September to May. Vouchers for a session at the counter. Today’s board has every line with its price and whether it has gone; the order page takes a Friday box, a counter order or a seat at fish school.
Questions about fish school
Do I need to bring anything?
Nothing. Aprons and knives are here, the knife is yours to keep, and we lend a cool bag for the fish. Wear shoes you do not mind getting wet.
Is there a date with seats left?
The order page lists the next sessions with the seats left; choose one and send the form, and we ring to take the £45. Full sessions take a waiting list; a second session is added when the list reaches six.
Fish and chips at home this Friday, from this morning's boat.
A box for two, four or six: haddock or cod landed that morning, batter mix, blanched chips, mushy peas, tartare, a lemon and the card. Order by Thursday 6pm, collect Friday four till seven or have it delivered within five miles. The same form takes a counter order, a lobster, or a seat at fish school.