Life All Travel Destinations Entertaining Food All Chefs Recipes Restaurants Wine Matching Wine All Wine 101 Wine News Wine Regions Wine Varietals Home > Selector Magazine > Food > Colin Fassnidge’s Roast flathead, pickled seaweed and seaweed butter recipe Food Colin Fassnidge’s Roast flathead, pickled seaweed and seaweed butter recipe Preparation time 70 Minutes Cooking time 12 Minutes Serves 4 A fresh and savoury white like the increasingly popular Vermentino is a great choice with this flathead dish, based more on the accompaniments than anything else. This issue’s elegant yet powerful 2016 Alejandro by Alex Russell opens with hints of fresh herb on the nose, while the multi-layered palate has leesy texture and an almost salty finish. Ingredients 4 small flathead fillets (tails) 1 handful tarragon sprigs 50g fennel seeds 6 sprigs thyme, roughly chopped 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped Pickled seaweed 100g dried wakame seaweed Pickling liquor 1 cinnamon quill 3 star anise 300ml white wine vinegar 150g white sugar 2 bay leaves ¼ bunch thyme 20g salt Seaweed Butter 2 tbsp. salted and dried Kombu (seaweed), or 1 tbsp. finely chopped sushi seaweed (yaki nori) 100g unsalted butter, softened Spoon miso paste ½ knob ginger, peeled, microplaned Splash soy sauce Method To make the pickling liquor, place the cinnamon quill and star anise into a saucepan, and dry roast over medium heat for about 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients with 450ml water and bring to the boil. Place the seaweed into hot pickling liquor. Remove from heat and leave for 1 hour to soak and cool. Drain. To store, transfer to sterilised jars and keep for up to 4 weeks. To make seaweed butter, soak dried seaweed under cold water for 5 mins, drain, finely chop. (If using yaki nori, do not soak.) Combine ginger, miso paste, soy sauce and seaweed with butter, season, then set aside. If not using immediately, chill, but soften before use. To cook the flathead fillets, pre-heat the oven to 210°C. Place flathead fillets on oiled baking tray. Sprinkle with tarragon, fennel seeds, thyme and garlic and cover liberally with seaweed butter. Cook in oven for 10-12 mins, basting occasionally. Serve on a bed of seaweed with fresh sprigs of fennel and final basting of seaweed butter from the baking tray. Food Preparation time 70 Minutes Cooking time 12 Minutes Serves 4 SHARE Perfect Match Spring Seed Wine Co Gypsy Blanc de Blancs NV $17.00 in any 12 $18.00 in any 6 $20.00 each Price | options $17.00 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Houghton Crofters Chardonnay 2019 $17.00 in any 12 $18.00 in any 6 $20.00 each Price | options $17.00 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Alejandro Fiano 2019 $17.00 in any 12 $18.00 in any 6 $20.00 each Price | options $17.00 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Alkoomi White Label Riesling 2020 $17.85 in any 12 $18.90 in any 6 $21.00 each Price | options $17.85 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Pizzini Prosecco NV $18.30 in any 12 $19.35 in any 6 $21.50 each Price | options $18.30 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Trimboli Family Wines Two Cultures Vermentino 2019 $18.70 in any 12 $19.80 in any 6 $22.00 each Price | options $18.70 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Three Ponds Semillon 2017 $18.70 in any 12 $19.80 in any 6 $22.00 each Price | options $18.70 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Running with Bulls Verdejo 2016 $18.70 in any 12 $19.80 in any 6 $22.00 each Price | options $18.70 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Bimbadgen Ridge Chardonnay 2017 $19.55 in any 12 $20.70 in any 6 $23.00 each Price | options $19.55 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Alejandro Vermentino 2020 $20.40 in any 12 $21.60 in any 6 $24.00 each Price | options $20.40 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Trimboli Family Wines Saverio Family Selection Vermentino 2019 $20.40 in any 12 $21.60 in any 6 $24.00 each Price | options $20.40 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Three Ponds Special Release Semillon Chardonnay 2019 $20.40 in any 12 $21.60 in any 6 $24.00 each Price | options $20.40 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Littles Homestead Vineyard Semillon 2018 $21.25 in any 12 $22.50 in any 6 $25.00 each Price | options $21.25 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Andrew Thomas Synergy Semillon 2018 $21.25 in any 12 $22.50 in any 6 $25.00 each Price | options $21.25 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Andrew Thomas Synergy Semillon 2020 $21.25 in any 12 $22.50 in any 6 $25.00 each Price | options $21.25 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Son of a Bull Riesling 2019 $21.25 in any 12 $22.50 in any 6 $25.00 each Price | options $21.25 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Rosenvale Vineyards Semillon 2011 $21.25 in any 12 $22.50 in any 6 $25.00 each Price | options $21.25 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Tomich Grüner Veltliner 2017 $21.25 in any 12 $22.50 in any 6 $25.00 each Price | options $21.25 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Legends Semillon 2016 $21.25 in any 12 $22.50 in any 6 $25.00 each Price | options $21.25 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Fullylove Chardonnay 2019 $21.25 in any 12 $22.50 in any 6 $25.00 each Price | options $21.25 in any 12 bottles Qty Add to cart Two Blues Sauvignon Blanc 2014 1 case has been added to your cart. Cart total: xxx 1 case, 12 bottles, 3 accessories Checkout Continue Shopping You might also like Food Matthew Evans’ white wine steamed cauliflower Food What grows together, goes together Wunderbar lamb and Mitchell Family wines. Words by Paul Diamond on 7 Jan 2018 Food Ed Halmagyi’s fruit salad with thyme-vanilla sugar and extra virgin olive oil