Howtocookonaboat is organising a barbeque on the beach in a couple of weeks and went along to Jun Tanaka's Seafood Barbeque event today at the Chancery Court Hotel in London for inspiration. Held in the courtyard of the hotel, the day couldn't have been better: hot, sunny, blue skies - a perfect summer's day. Plus a cool soundtrack playing in the background before the start. Greeted with a glass of Veuve Cliquot champagne - one of our favourites - howtocookonaboat had front seats to watch the demo.
Jun started off with rosemary smoked mackerel with fresh horseradish sauce. This was of particular interest as mackerel is the predominant catch when we're out fishing so we're always looking for new ways to cook it.
Next up was blackened salmon with cucumber and yoghurt which doesn't sound particularly appealing but think cajun cooking and it's the spices on the outside which become dark - the fish is moist and succulent on the inside.
Then it was onto creating foil parcels of loveliness for the barbeque. 'En papillote' is a standard technique which we use all the time on board to cook fish, but this is the first time we've seen this used on the barbie. Jun cooked mussels with coconut and lime leaf and red mullet with chorizo, tomatoes and paprika this way.
But the dish with the biggest 'wow' factor for us was the scallops with orange and ginger butter. With only a short preparation time then 5-6 minutes on the barbeque, these are so simple to do and taste absolutely divine!
We also discovered how to make flat breads to cook in a flash over the barbie.
After the demo, everyone got to taste these creations together with an assortment of fresh salads. Suitably inspired, we feel an early morning trip to Billingsgate Market coming up and there will definitely be no 'bangers and burgers' at our next beach barbeque!
PS Jun used a gas fired barbeque for his cooking. We use a portable Cobb barbeque with charcoal.
