In my newsletter I did promise a recipe for Mackerel with Rhubarb, with all credit to The Draak, who came up with this (and it was her Rhubarb). As with so many fish recipes, it’s simple and quick and involves minimal messing about with good ingredients.
Take one medium sized Mackerel per person, and take off the pectoral fins with kitchen scissors. I like to leave the heads on, but if you prefer you can take them off by slicing through behind the gills. The fish won’t mind either way.
Wash the fish in cold water, pat dry with kitchen town and take some sprigs of fresh rosemary and put these in the cavity. Place them on a baking tray (see comments about bake-o-glide and baking fish in previous post) and put them in the over for 30 minutes at 180 degrees C.
For the Rhubarb Sauce, put some sticks of rhubarb in a baking dish with plenty of caster sugar sprinkled over. Put it into the oven ten minutes after the fish and let it cook until the fish is ready. Bear in mind that you probably need more rhubarb than it shows here, but this was our first crop, so we went with what we had.
The water from the Rhubarb will dissolve into the sugar, and you may want to dilute it slightly if it gets too caramelised. And that’s it. The sourness of the Rhubarb complements the oiliness of Mackerel wonderfully; it’s a combination of flavours that’s almost oriental in intensity.