Serves 4

As we found, if you are fishing for sea bass, you’ll probably end up with an awful lot of mackerel. That’s fine by me - mackerel is one of my favourite fish and perhaps the most overlooked in the sea. Gooseberries have such a short season, and I love to combine them with the oily fish. The best way to enjoy this fish is to lightly grill it or pop it on the barbecue.

4 fresh mackerel, gutted and washed
Freshly ground salt and pepper
500g fresh gooseberries
50ml elderflower cordial
1 tbsp sugar
Olive oil

1 With a sharp knife, make 2-3 deep With a sharp knife, make 2-3 deep slashes in each side of the mackerel. Season well and set aside while preparing the sauce.
2 Place the gooseberries, elderflower cordial and sugar in a medium-sized pan, add enough water to cover the fruit then place on the stove and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the 5-20 minutes or until the gooseberries have collapsed.
3 Remove from the heat and either pass through a Mouli or sieve to remove all the stems and so on.
4 Return to the pan and boil until the mixture is quite thick in consistency, then remove the sauce from the heat but keep it warm.
5 Preheat a cast-iron griddle on the stove top. Brush with a little olive oil and then cook the mackerel for 6-8 minutes on each side.
6 Allow the mackerel to rest for 5 minutes before serving with the sauce.

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