Spencer Watts
Description
This cookbook is about fish, seafood, and a diverse way of cooking styles to prepare them. Some of my best memories are of being on the water fishing.
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So much of who I am is because of my time with mother ocean, from searching out oyster beds on the Sunshine Coast to the cold weather spot prawn season and fishing salmon, cod, and even octopus in every imaginable weather pattern. My love and respect for fish and seafood has a long history and these memories have shaped who I am as a cook.
There have been so many teachers in my life when it comes to seafood and cuisine. I have learned from the best fishmongers, culinary seafood icons, and to say this book is diverse would be an understatement. Learning how to open oysters with my dad or my mother teaching me how to clean fresh crab that I had just caught, it has all been one great journey for me. This is what this cookbook is all about, a different look at fish and seafood, something new to learn and a ton of inspiration for your next seafood adventure.
The culinary force behind this cookbook is all these experiences. I can honestly say I am not a chef with a deep rooted singular culinary style or vision, I am truly a culinary globetrotter and I say that with pride. When a dish has Japanese roots its because I have spent years examining their ingredients, working along side Japanese cooks, learning, making mistakes and after 12-hour shifts going home to practice what I had learned until it was an extension of my soul.
I love the spices and warmth of Indian cooking and this has come with great mentorship from Chef Rajeev Aurora who I worked with in my hotel days, I would come in on my day off and he would teach me how to make simple curries and some not so simple curries, this was also another great obsession of mine and still is.
My culinary training is French based and there is a lot of that training in this book, from Chef Pascal teaching me how to make an authentic bouillabaisse, to Chef Robert Clark teaching me how to make the perfect bisque. I would have to say that my foundation of French technique-based cooking is one of my staples.
Eating Dim Sum at 2 years old will definitely have an effect on someone who becomes a chef, and it did. Chinese cooking has had a deep impact on my culinary style, and I love how those ingredients can rock your taste buds and add so much adventure to food, especially fish. In one breath, fish and big bold flavors are really exciting but so is a delicate approach. Working in an Italian restaurant was another huge culinary leap for me, light sauces, fresh herbs, and a simple approach that Mediterranean cooking has is perfect for fish and if you break fresh ingredients down to their core, they can shine as bright as the sun and will always have a place in my heart and in this cookbook.
Being a cook for over 20 years I have fallen in love with so many cooking styles throughout those years and they all have presence in this book, from tex-mex cooking from my family in the states to Spanish spices from working with Chef David Foot.
This cookbook has it all and is unapologetically me to the core. I have taken all my experience and simmered it into a collection of fun approachable recipes you can do at home. I hope it inspires you to get some fish and get into the kitchen, It is one of the greatest joys my life has given me and I want to share that with you all. This cookbook if full of memories, stories, experiences and great food whether it's a simple dinner for family and friends or a special dish for a dinner party, this book has something for every occasion. Its fun, tasty and I hope you make these dishes your new signatures. I have cooked and eaten fish around the world and back and along the way I have saved memories and have been inspired by worldly flavors. This collection of recipes is truly for everyone, and I welcome you to the adventure.
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