FISH BUTCHERY, MASTERING THE CATCH, CUT AND CRAFT

Fish butchery, mastering the catch, cut and craft. Award-winning author and culinary game-changer Josh Niland returns with the ultimate guide to the art of Fish Butchery, with expert techniques and ground-breaking recipes that are an urgent call for action on culinary sustainability.

Josh believes that when a fish arrives to market, like an animal to a butcher, there are disciplined practices that we need to follow. No butcher in the world would only strip the loins off a pig and then throw the rest away as waste. And yet essentially this is what we do every day all around the world with fish.

It is estimated that 50 per cent of the world’s fish caught is wasted. Of the 50 per cent we use, another 50 per cent of this is overlooked by the Western world, which overwhelmingly prefers to consume only the fillet. Fish Butchery intends to disrupt this thinking, inspire, challenge and hopefully encourage the next generation. This book is as much about intentionality as it is sustainability.

Fish Butchery is designed to show the reader – and the industry at large – the vast range of possibilities that exist when fish is treated correctly, from those initial moments of capture and transport through to being butchered and processed and, finally, making an appearance on the plate. Split into three sections that reflect this journey – Catch, Cut and Craft – the opportunities for adding value to fish at each stage are examined in detail, with step-by-step breakdowns of various cuts and the recipes involved in transforming the building blocks into desirable finished products.

Fish Butchery is about creating a workable system for the industry that allows families and individuals to conveniently access approachable fish dishes that extend the use of one fish further, whether that be in the form of fish sausages, burger patties, fish fingers, fishcakes, pâté, mortadella, bacon and more.

With stunning photography from award-winning photographer Rob Palmer and thought-provoking illustrations from acclaimed artist Reg Mombassa, Fish Butchery is as bold and brilliant as it is informative and entertaining. It reimagines our relationship with this precious resource and is an urgent call to minimise waste and build a more sustainable food system.

About the Author

Chef Josh Niland has transformed the way we cook, transport, age and store fish. His ethical, sustainable and revolutionary approach has received global recognition, while fellow chefs, marine experts, seafood companies and fishmongers have applauded and embraced his philosophy. With wife Julie, and at age 26, he opened his first restaurant, Saint Peter, in Sydney’s Paddington, in 2016 to widespread acclaim. Two years later, the couple established Fish Butchery, Australia’s first sustainable fishmonger with a temperature-controlled ice-free zone where line-caught fish are dry-handled and cut to order. Josh’s pioneering approach, including his revolutionary dry-ageing philosophy, is covered in his first book, The Whole Fish Cookbook. Released in 2019, it garnered a swag of chef endorsements and international awards, including James Beard Book of the Year 2020, and has been translated into ten languages. The sequel, Take One Fish, was published in 2021.

Fish Butchery: Mastering the Catch, Cut and Craft by Josh Niland (Hardie Grant, £32) is out now

Photography: Rob Palmer