Not only is it Notting Hill Carnival this month, it’s also the release of the Original Flava: Caribbean Recipes from Home cookbook so it’s the perfect time to share one of Craig and Shaun McAnuff’s recipes. Though they serve this honey roast jerk salmon at Christmas, it works so well for the summer too. The recipe calls for a whole fish but you can use fillets (pan-grill for 5-6 minutes on each side until charred and cooked to your liking) or a side of salmon like we did, which we roasted in the oven.
What You Need
For the fish
1 whole salmon, about 1.5–2kg
Handful of sliced okra
2 limes, cut into wedges
4 spring onions
Handful fresh thyme sprigs
2 garlic cloves
Handful of scotch bonnet peppers (optional)
olive oil
For the marinade
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
60ml lime juice (from 3 limes)
1 tbsp pimento (allspice) berries
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon or freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tbsp chopped ginger
1 medium onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled
4 fresh thyme sprigs
2 scotch bonnet peppers, deseeded
A squeeze of honey
What You Do
1. Get your fishmonger to scale and gut the salmon (unless you want to do it yourself). Use a sharp knife to score parallel lines diagonally along the fish on both sides.
No need to score if you’re using a side or fillets of fish.
2. Unroll a piece of foil large enough to wrap and cover the fish. Pour some olive oil on the foil, then spread out the okra, lime wedges and scotch bonnets (if using).
3. Put the jerk marinade ingredients into a blender and blend in short bursts until you have a thick paste. Massage the marinade into the fish getting it right into the cuts, then place the fish on top of the vegetables in the foil.
We couldn’t find allspice berries so substituted them for the dry spice.
4. Slice the spring onions into lengths and place them inside the fish’s cavity with the thyme and garlic cloves. Wrap the foil into a parcel, leaving an air space above the fish. Leave to marinate for 2 hours.
As we used a side we didn’t have a cavity to stuff – instead we just sat the fish on top of the veggies and left it uncovered.
5. Preheat the oven to 160°C Fan/180°C/Gas 4. Place the fish parcel on a baking tray and bake for 50 minutes–1 hour until the fish is cooked through.
6. Serve with boiled baby potatoes or yam mash and mango salsa, made from chopped mango, red onion, onion and avocado, with some parsley, thyme, black pepper and salt.
It’s definitely worth making this salsa as it cuts through the spice on the fish so well – just chop and mix all the ingredients and finish with a big squeeze of lime.