Whilst eating out at a cheap and cheerful Italian place in Surrey recently I ate fresh sardines that had been grilled and doused with fresh mint and olive oil. I would never have thought of doing it but it was a revelation. Taking this idea to my heart I bought mackerel at the market and applied the same idea to them - and boy, were they good! This time I made my dressing with a few additions - the new season’s ‘wet’ garlic is so lovely and oily I'm putting it into everything but my breakfast.

Ingredients - serves 4

Take 4 medium sized mackerel, heads removed, cleaned.
for the dressing:
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp olive oil,
4 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 cloves wet garlic, crushed
salt & pepper
large bunch of mint leaves, finely chopped

Method

Cut diagonally through the mackerel skin in several place on both sides. Grill for a few minutes each side until just cooked through - and crisp skinned on the outside.

While they are grilling make a dressing by placing the dressing ingredients in a screw top jar. Put the lid on and shake vigorously until you have a thick emulsion. If you want the flavours to be more pronounced then mix all but the mint together and refrigerate for a few hours, add the mint and shake in immediately before serving.

Spoon copious amounts of the dressing over the sizzling mackerel and serve with salad and slices of brown bread.