DH doesn't like fish, but wants to.

[MrsChemist]

He will eat fish fingers and (oddly enough) most sushi and occasionally smoked salmon, but he says he hates cooked fish (we have similar taste in food and I have a feeling his experience of fish was mostly plain poached salmon, which I detest).
He loves cooking and food though (is a chef) and knows that it's a bit of a hindrance not liking fish. He really wants to like it, and I want to cook him some that he will love.

I think it would be preferable to start with meatier fish, but I don't want to mess it up and make him hate fish more.

Does anyone have a gorgeous fish recipe that he is guaranteed to love and will gently introduce him to the fantastic world of aquatic vertebrate?

Oh, he refuses point blank to try shellfish, and he thinks prawns are evil, so best to avoid those.

TIA

monkfish is quite meaty although £££

you can wrap it in parma ham with some tapenade between the ham and fish, then roast, to further disguise its fishiness.

I have just made the roasted fish and chip recipe that HFW did last week on River Cottage. It was absolutely delicious and we all loved it. I couldnt get whiting, so used Cod and I am not a fish lover either. But I will make this again.

Google for his recipe, it is simple but is fish portion on a hot baking tray brushed with a mixture of lemon juice, olive oil and thyme. I used lemon Thyme. Skin side down a bit of thyme and a bay leaf and hey presto, tasty non fishy fish.

hope this helps.

How about fresh tuna steak, maybe with salsa verde?

Was also going to say tuna

I think that smoked fish might be a good way to go. If he hates cooked salmon, it may be that he doesn't like the milder flavours and the soft texture?

Try a fish pie made with half smoked haddock, half white fish? I do mine with a veloute (ooh, get me! just do a roux base as for a white sauce then instead of milk use fish stock) OR with a cheese sauce made with strong cheddar and also strong mustard (this is seriously strongly flavoured - but might help him cope with the fishiness?).

Smoked mackerel (or smoked mackerel pate for the really fish-phobic) is also often liked by fish-haters.

Seared tuna will prob work for him - maybe with a sesame crust

How about a fab fish pie too - it works texturally and the taste is lots of layers

I'd go for monkfish too, as it's not inherently fishy, and has a meaty like texture to it. Wrapped in parma ham is a good idea, or what about as part of a fish curry? Nigela has a lovely Keralan Fish Curry recipe which would be great with monkfish.

I'd avoid anything with too strong a flavour - i.e. tuna, mackerel, sardines, smoked fish - and also anything with skin still attached, as he may be put off by that, some people are.

Try sole fish. Cooks very quickly in a bit of water, then add salt and serve with rice, potatoes and carrots.

I would try fish pie (which I adore, and would lovr to make regularly), but he isn't keen on white sauces

He is put off by them still having skin on as well.
I like the monkfish and parma ham idea, and the curry idea. It had crossed my mind to put it in some sort of sauce, but I was having a brain freeze and could only think of spicy crab and lobster pasta sauce (he needs to work up to crab and lobster I think).

I think he'd like cod as well, because he eats fish fingers (he's also a massive HFW fan, and if I said it was his recipe, I bet he would find it more acceptable)
Thanks everyone

Oh I think if you can bear to kill it ( or buy ready cooked ) then cold lobster roll with mayo and french fries is a great start.

I find bland white fish dull, dull, dull.

HFW, as another poster said,is great for fish. In Everyday, he has a gorgeous looking curried fish pie with a puff pastry top, can post recipe later if you're interested.

I know what you said about shellfish, but moules marinieres are really tasty too and a big fave here.

I am not keen on hot shellfish, except scallops. Maybe try scallops wrapped in bacon with a pea puree? Vair foody and delish.

I think a lot of fish has more flavour and a much better texture cold ( eg salmon ).

I think he could like scallops, but the idea of it still deters him. It's another one we'll have to work up to.

I looked for some monkfish in Tesco, but there wasn't any. I'll have to wait for market day (we have some amazing markets around here)

seabass

dh wasn't a fish fan, but I've converted him to Thai fish cakes - blend lemongrass, ginger, lime zest, green chillies, shallots, garlic, lime juice, coriander leaves and thai fish sauce to make a paste. Skin and bone trout fillets, and roughly chop in a blender. Mix paste with fish, shape into little cakes, lightly dust with flour and place into the fridge to firm up. Shallow fry in veg/sunflower/groundnut oil for a minute or so each side until the fish is cooked. Serve with rice, steamed green veg and lime wedges.

Here's the Nigella curry recipe if you want to try it.

Highly recommend the fish curry from Dairymoo - we had it tonight with cod and prawns, but monkfish would have been even better as it's less likely to fall apart.

I've spoken to him and he likes the idea of a curry, and as soon as he read Habbibu's fish cake recipe he was sold

Thanks everyone

If he sometimes eats sushi, his problem with fish in general might be because he's very sensitive to its freshness - Sushi of course has to be top-notch fresh. I say this because my dd loathes fish utterly, but when on holiday in Greece DH and I shared a fresh-off-the-boat fish; to my amazement DD consented to try a bit and actually swallowed it

So, the freshest fish you can, either Habs fishcakes or monkfish (provencale type sauce with that is good) - if that doesnt do it dn't know what will.