Dishes such as this are often called ‘carpaccio’, which is raw beef drizzled with a lemony mayonnaise named for the brilliant reds and whites common in the paintings of Renaissance artist Vittore Carpaccio. As raw fish is rarely the bright red of Carpaccio’s paintings, similar dishes made with seafood are more correctly called ‘crudo’ (Italian for ‘raw’).
INGREDIENTS:
1 x 600g piece sashimi-grade Swordfish (see notes)
2 tablespoons lemon-infused olive oil
Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 punnet micro herbs, snipped (see notes)
METHOD:
Wrap fish tightly in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for 60 minutes to firm up before slicing.
Slice the fish as finely as possible, using a very sharp knife or slicing machine. Arrange slices in a single layer on plates. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt flakes and a good grind of black pepper and garnish with micro herbs.
NOTES:
Sashimi-grade fish is normally sold trimmed, if it is not, trim off any skin, dark muscle or bloodline, before slicing it.
Micro herbs and cress, growing in punnets, are available at some greengrocers and online. They keep, refrigerated and loosely covered with a damp cloth, for several days; if unavailable use the smallest leaves on a bunch of herbs or tear larger leaves into small pieces.
ALTERNATIVE SPECIES:
Atlantic Salmon, Snapper, Tuna, Yellowtail Kingfish.