Tony & Giorgio

6 tomatoes, deseeded and cut into 1cm/½ in dice

50ml/2fl oz white wine vinegar

500ml/17fl oz white wine

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan, add the mackerel fillets and cook for 30 seconds on each side. Remove from the pan, arrange in a shallow dish in a single layer and put the lemon and orange slices on top.

Put the olive oil, garlic clove and bay leaf in a saucepan and heat gently. Add the carrots and onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the diced tomatoes and some salt and pepper. Pour in the white wine vinegar and white wine, bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Pour this mixture straight over the mackerel; it should cover the fish. Leave to cool completely, then cover with clingfilm and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight. Bring to room temperature before serving, garnished with toast, if liked, and accompanied by potato salad.

Insalata tiepida di gamberi e borlotti

Warm prawn salad with borlotti beans

Prawns and beans make one of the great classic combinations of Italian cooking. Fresh borlotti beans are in season in the UK in July and August and taste wonderful. If you’re in a hurry, though, open a couple of cans instead and this whole dish will take only a few minutes. Giorgio

Serves 4

16 large peeled raw prawns

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 red chillies, finely sliced

50ml/2fl oz white wine

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the borlotti beans:

about 1.3kg/3lb fresh borlotti beans (you will need 450g/1lb shelled weight)

4 sage leaves

1 bay leaf

6 sprigs of parsley

½ celery stalk

1 garlic bulb, cut in half

Shell the borlotti beans and put them in a large saucepan. Make a bouquet garni by tying together the sage, bay leaf, parsley and celery with string. Add to the beans along with the garlic bulb, cover with plenty of cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes or until the beans are tender, then drain and set aside.

Butterfly the prawns by slicing nearly all the way through them lengthways and opening them out.

Heat a large, heavy-based frying pan, add the olive oil, then add the garlic and chillies and fry for a few seconds. Add the prawns and fry for about 3-4 minutes, until just cooked through. Add the white wine and ignite with a match to flambé the prawns (but not the curtains!). When the flames have died down, remove the prawns from the pan and set aside.

Add the drained borlotti beans to the pan and heat through, so they take on the garlic and chilli flavours. Return the prawns to the pan and toss everything together, then season to taste. Serve the prawns and beans liberally drizzled with good extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with lots of freshly ground black pepper.

Swordfish club

‘Club sandwich’ di pesce spada

They say that the best way to judge a top hotel is to order a club sandwich on room service. I reckon if any hotel were smart enough to put this swordfish version on the room-service menu for their guests instead of the normal turkey and bacon variety, they’d never get them to go home. Tony

Serves 2

300ml/½ pint vegetable oil

100g/3½oz sliced smoked salmon

4 thin swordfish steaks, weighing about 50 – 65g/2 –2½o z each

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 slices of Granary bread

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

100g/3½oz iceberg lettuce, chopped

2 tomatoes, thinly sliced

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the vegetable oil in a small saucepan until it is hot enough to turn a small cube of bread brown in about 1 minute. Add 1 or 2 smoked salmon slices and fry for about 30 seconds, until crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and fry the remaining smoked salmon in the same way, then set aside.

Heat a ridged griddle pan until very hot. Brush the swordfish steaks on both sides with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on the hot griddle and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until cooked through and slightly charred.

Toast the bread lightly on both sides. Mix together the mayonnaise and lettuce and spread it on 2 slices of the bread. Place these on 2 serving plates. Place the swordfish on top. Put the crisp smoked salmon and sliced tomatoes on 2 more slices of bread and place on top of the swordfish. Top with a final slice of bread and secure the whole stack with a long wooden skewer. Cut in half and serve, with crisp chips (see page 56).

Fish and chips with mushy peas

Pesce fritto, patatine e pure di piselli

At fish! we always use haddock for fish and chips but at Bank we go a little upscale and use halibut. Both are perfect for deep-frying because they keep their shape and retain a nice, dense texture. The double cooking of the chips guarantees the golden crispness that chip lovers adore. You don’t have to do the mushy peas but personally I think they’re the best bit.