This simple recipe produces an amazingly sophisticated result that you could serve up with pride at a dinner party.   It can be made with monkfish, or any other white fish,

We call it “poissonier Erquy sauce” because the “recipe” was given to us by the fishmonger opposite the Carrefour mini-supermarket in Erquy. This small town had three fishmongers – France is indeed “a foreign country, they do things differently there”.   To be fair, Erquy is one of the foremost fishing ports in Northern Brittany and in France, as well as being the self-proclaimed coquille St Jacques (scallop) capital of the world.

How to say “Erquy”?  “Air key” gets near enough.

It was our first night in Erquy, in June 2013, and we wanted to cook something local (for once we were not flaked out by the journey, having only had a relatively short drive to get there) and in Erquy “local” has to mean fish.

We quickly found the most obvious of the three possoniers, but it was very late in the shopping day and there was not a lot of choice left.  I had never cooked monkfish, and the choice was monkfish, monkfish or monkfish.

We have learnt over the years that French fishmongers can always suggest a simple recipe for all their fish, familiar and unfamiliar, and he didn’t fail us.  This is excellent, slightly surprising, and very adaptable.

A piece of monkfish for each person (think 4-6 oz / 100 – 150 grams per person, more for larger appetites)

1 large onion for 4, adapt up or down according to numbers

2 medium tomatoes per person

A generous teaspoon of creme fraiche per person.

None of these measures is very exact – they certainly weren’t very exact when we were given them, especially as we were having to translate from French!

Chop the onion finely or coarsely according to your preference.  I prefer finely;  others in the family prefer coarsely;  but luckily (since the cook gets to choose and I am not always the cook) I most of all enjoy variety.

Fry the onion gently in a little of whatever oil you prefer, or in butter, until translucent but not browned,  Use a frying pan that will be big enough to take all the fish in a single layer.

Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes ready for later.  Chop them finely if the onion was finely chopped, coarsely if the onion was coarsely chopped,

Push the cooked onion to the edge of the pan and gently fry the fish, cut into a portion for each person, for about 5 minutes, turning half way through,  Remove the fish to a plate.  (No need to worry about keeping it warm, but a sheet of foil over the top would help if you are cooking in very cold weather.)

Now add the chopped tomato to the pan and increase the heat to a fairly strong medium to drive off the watery juices that the tomatoes produce.  Break the flesh down so it is a bit more pulpy.  Season with salt and pepper, and a smidgeon of sugar if your principles allow this: it intensifies the taste of the tomatoes, a very useful tip for supermarket tomatoes.

Turn the heat down to gentle and add the creme fraiche, stirring in well.   Add the monkfish back to the pan and let the fish and sauce warm through for just long enough for the fish to be good and hot, and cooked through.

I was very nervous about the effect of combining tomato and creme fraiche in this way, and almost chickened out, but it works brilliantly!  Serve with a classic crisp green salad, or a green-coloured vegetable of your choice.   Madame in France would inevitably serve haricots verts, green beans, but broccoli or courgettes would be good.  If you serve it with freshly bought local bread to mop up the last of the sauce, washing up can be not much more than the plates, the frying pan and a salad bowl:  real style, and not a lot of effort!.

If you are prepared to wash up two pans (or when you are making it for that dinner party!) you can, if you prefer, make the sauce in a separate pan and pour it over the cooked fish.  It will probably look marginally more elegant, but it won’t taste any better!

If your scope for cooking is very restricted, you could use Lazy Garlic instead of onions, and/or tomato puree (in which case you need slightly more crème fraiche) or passata instead of fresh tomatoes.  I wouldn’t recommend using a tin of tomatoes however, unless you want something with more of a Mediterranean feel – in which case you should probably be rethinking what recipe you are doing.  (Such as, leave out the creme fraiche and add some olives, or capers, or red peppers, or a tin of anchovies.  But now we are onto another recipe …)

Happy quick and easy cooking and – bon appétit!

Anna