Hello All,

I love my fish but am put off by not knowing how to fillet and prepare fish.

Does anyone know of any good resources which teach you how to do this?

Also, are there any fish preparation/cooking courses round these parts?

Thanks

Rich

Follow some of these links for vids on how to fillet a fish
Fish Filleting (http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&source=hp&q=how+to+fillet+fish&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=how+to+fillet+fish&fp=80997cb85fd825e6)

I was looking for this video http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/get_cooking/techniques/027001.shtml
which I have seen before, when I came accross this one
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/videos/1032/filleting-a-round-fish

That last one is a variation I've never seen before, but it looks a bit more precise so I might give it a go myself as opposed to the first method which I have always used before and is in all of my cook books.

When I first stated doing it regularly, I bought a fish filleting knife which has lots of flex and can give better results. But you can use an ordinary knife if you take more care and don't mind your fillets not being as perfect. The knife does need to be sharp though. The fillet will probably end up looking partially diced if you try it with a blunt knife and have to hack away at it.

I find the easiest thing is to ask your fishmonger to do it for you when you buy them. Not faffing with scales and things whe you get home then.

I find the easiest thing is to ask your fishmonger to do it for you when you buy them. Not faffing with scales and things whe you get home then.

I tend to agree. Some fish are pretty easy to deal with or can be eaten on the bone but cleaning squid is a bit yucky so I'm glad to let the fishmonger do it.

Some fishmongers will fillet it for you but not all, some will only clean (gut) whole fish and you will have to fillet yourself.

I've also noticed the supermarkets will sell a fillet of something for a set price and are unwilling to fillet a whole fish for you which is at a different price.

I bought a whole Sea Bass and filleted it myself this weekend, it was the first fish I have filleted since I made the above post and I therefore gave the second technique a go. I found it slightly better so recommend anyone wanting to give filleting fish a go, try the second video method.