In my mind spring is all about fresh ingredients and simplicity. In NZ we have quite a barbeque culture and as soon as Spring hits someone makes the call for the weekend barbeque and weather prevailing people descend with plates of food in hand. Typically if you’re lazy you turn up with some sausages and beer but in the day and age where food is getting more and more refined there is a competitive spirit to bring something ‘different’ along.This idea (I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call it a recipe) came from a good friend. We were trawling the supermarket isles for offerings for an imminent barbeque when we encountered fresh whole fish. I dared him to take one and being in an adventurous mood he accepted. We decided that being a white fish (red cod) light but refreshing herbs would suit and as fortune would have it the supermarket had lemon basil.
The result of our discussions and browsing was light full flavoured shards of fish steaming hot off the barbeque. I’m not a huge fan of fish but this managed to pass my tastes. I recommend using whole fillets (skin on) though, as it will cook more evenly. Try cutting the fish down to the skin, once cooked it will easily lift off the skin to make for neat delicious parcels of fish.