Pollock is another fish that deserves far more respect than it gets, even these days, and even on its home shores.

• one pollock fillet (18.25 oz) from American Seafood Company in Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market, rinsed, dried, cut into 2 sections, seasoned on both sides with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, placed inside a buttered tin-lined copper oval baking dish, spread with 2 tablespoons or so of softened Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ that had been mixed with zest from half of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, 3 sliced ramp bulbs from Berried Treasures, and a large pinch of crushed golden/orange home-dried Habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm (acquired fresh last season), baked at 350º for about 20 minutes, or maybe a little more, because they were thick, removed to 2 plates, spread with the cooking juices (of course the amount of juice will depend on the amount of butter used) and sprinkled with a small number of salted capers along with the tiny bit of olive oil in which they had earlier been heated briefly after being rinsed, drained, and dried, the pollock finished with a garnish of small (almost micro) nasturtium leaves from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• half a dozen cucumbers of 2 different kinds from Norwich Meadows Farm (I was unable to learn the names of these varieties), halved crosswise, then quartered lengthwise,  dried, sautéed inside a large cast iron pan in a little olive oil over a fairly high flame until they began to color, and then joined by spring shallots from Alewife Farm and some sliced fennel stems, remaining from 2 baby fennel bulbs from Central Valley Farm that had been incorporated into an earlier meal, everything sautéed until beginning to caramelize, when sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper were added, and then a large handful of golden cherry tomatoes from Windfall Farms, which were rolled around with the rest of the vegetables until warmed through but still whole, served on the plates sprinkled with some chopped fennel fronds, garnished with Genovese basil from Windfall Farms, and drizzled with olive oil
• the wine was a California (Lodi) white, David Akiyoshi Chardonnay Lodi 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was the album of Thomas Adès’ music, ‘Adès: Tevot, Violin Concerto, Couperin Dances’, Simon Rattle, Thomas Adès, and Paul Daniel variously, conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain

It’s a great fish, and this is a great recipe, especially because it encourages some finely-drawn variations, none of which I think should be considered ‘the standard’.

In honor of these 2 noble fillets, and the delicate condiments with which I decided to grace them, I also added a couple of subtle elements to the yeoman vegetable which accompanied them, Brussels sprouts, which normally, but not always, goes it pretty much alone around here.

Wild garlic, a harbinger of spring (the season had in fact officially arrived that morning) seems designed to go with this wonderful dish.

• two pollock fillets (9 ounces each) purchased from Carl Karlin of P.E. & D.D. Seafood in the Union Square Greenmarket, rinsed, dried, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, placed inside a buttered baking dish, skin side down, spread with a mixture of soft butter, zest from a local sweet lemon from David Tifford of Fantastic Gardens of Long Island, slices of wild garlic (bulb and stem) from Lani’s Farm, and a large pinch of crushed orange/gold home-dried Habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm (acquired fresh last season), the fish baked for about 15 minutes at 350º, removed to 2 plates, the cooking juices poured over the top, and a teaspoon of Mediterranean organic wild capers in brine (from a Providence, Rhode Island distributor) rinsed, drained and dried, along with the oil in which they had earlier been heated briefly, the pollock finished with a garnish of cut chives from Phillips Farm
• Brussels Sprouts from Migliorelli Farm, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, four unpeeled cloves of garlic from  John D. Madura Farm (2 medium, 2 small), a pinch of a crushed dried chili (peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia), then spread, not touching each other, onto a large, well-seasoned Pampered Chef oven pan, roasted in at 385º (splitting the difference between the ideal temperature for the pollock and the sprouts) for about 20 minutes until very slightly browned and very slightly crisp on the outside, finished with a squeeze of a local sweet lemon from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island
• the wine was a New Zealand (Awatere Valley, Marlborough) white, Peter Yealands Sauvignon Blanc 2016,from Phillipe Wine
• the music was Handel’s early (1709) opera, ‘Agrippina’, René Jacobs directing the Academy for Ancient Music Berlin

I’ve always described pollock as a wonderful fish, and this time, more than ever before, on Wednesday it looked as lovely as it tasted.

The image above is of one serving of the cooked fish, and below is a picture of what the fillet (already divided into 2 pieces) looked like just before being put into the oven:

If you’re paying any attention at all, you will have noticed what I myself did notice at the time: There doesn’t seem to be any ground black pepper on the top of the fish (there was also no salt, but that’s less apparent in a photo). It seems that I was so absorbed in deciding on what I would include on top of the fillet this time that I forgot the two most essential elements.

The fact that there were so many other flavors and seasonings was almost enough to make us overlook the absence of pepper and salt, but not quite. We added both to the top of the fish after it had been served, but I think the flavor had not been compromised by the delay; in fact, I think I may have enjoyed the cleaner, milder taste, at least this one time.

The vegetables could hardly have been more simple (and I remembered to season them before they reached the table).

• one pollock fillet (13.25 oz) from American Seafood Company in the Union Square Greenmarket, rinsed, dried, cut into 2 sections, seasoned with salt and pepper [if cook is paying attention (see my introductory paragraph)] and placed in a buttered baking dish, spread with a mixture of some soft butter, zest from a local lemon from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island, slices of a spring onion from Norwich Meadows Farm, and a large pinch of crushed golden home-dried Habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm (acquired fresh last season), baked for about 15 minutes at 350º, removed to two plates, spread with the cooking juices, if any, and sprinkled with a small number of salted capers along with the oil in which they had earlier been heated briefly after being rinsed, drained, and dried, the pollock finished with a garnish of snow pea sprouts from Windfall Farms
• two Dark Red Norland potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, scrubbed, boiled, unpeeled, in heavily-salted water until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried in the still-warm vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, sprinkled with freshly-ground black pepper, and a little salt, if needed, stirred with a couple tablespoons of rich Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter, arranged on the plates with the fish and sprinkled with scissored chives from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• a decent amount of sweet young  spinach rosettes from Phillips Farms, their bases trimmed, washed in several changes of water, drained, gently wilted (that is, not reduced too far) inside a large enameled cast iron pot in a little olive oil in which one large clove of garlic from Healthway Farms & CSA had first been allowed to sweat, seasoned with salt, freshly-ground black pepper, a little crushed dried Itria-Sirissi chili (peperoncino di Sardegna intero) from Buon Italia, drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice
• the wine was a French (Bordeaux) white, Château Grand Renard Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux Blanc 2015
• the music was Pietro Antonio Cesti’s 1656 opera, ‘Orontea’, René Jacobs conducting the Concerto Vocale [more on the work here]

,

It was a surprisingly wonderful tripling (used in the sense of ‘pairing’, but with 3 elements instead of 2).

The pollock had come first, picked up earlier in the day at the Greenmarket. That evening I pared down the possibilities for a vegetable and selected the last of our Campo Rosso radicchio. Then, because I was afraid that those two might make for a pretty light meal, I looked around in my [figurative] potato bin for a suitable starch.

It turned out they played well together very well, the flavor of each informing that of the other two.

The fish was a delicious as ever, and it remains a favorite of mine, and its lack of general popularity baffles me. The chicory I had was a particularly delicious variety of a plant I’ve come to love more and more, and I may finally discovered the secret to to pan-grilling this vegetable (a very hot surface). Finally, while the small potatoes I used (one of  my favorite varieties) had started out looking a bit shriveled from age, I suspected that would mean they’d taste even better than usual (my suspicions were confirmed; the real surprise was that the boiling process totally revived their youthful skins).

• one 15-ounce pollock fillet from Pura Vida Seafood in the Union Square Greenmarket, rinsed, dried, seasoned with salt and pepper and placed in a buttered baking dish, spread with a mixture of some soft butter, zest from a local lemon from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island, and the scissored mostly-whiter part of one baby leek from Norwich Meadows Farm, baked 15 minutes at 350º, removed to the plates, spread with the cooking juices and sprinkled with a small number of salted capers which had earlier been rinsed, drained, and dried before they were briefly heated in a little olive oil, finished on the plates with a colorful micro sorrel from Two Gus from Woodbridge
• six Carola potatoes (yellow flesh, creamy) from Max Hatchery, boiled, drained, dried in the pan, halved, rolled in the clear pyrex pan, seasoned with Maldon salt and freshly-ground black pepper
• one radicchio variegato di Castelfranco from Campo Rosso Farm, rinsed under running water, cut into quarters and patted dry with a paper towel to remove excess water, the surfaces of the cut sides coated lightly with olive oil by being placed and turned on a shallow plate lined with it, and, making sure a grill pan is quite hot, the wedges placed in it, cut side down for 30 seconds, turned onto the other cut side for another 30 seconds, and finally the rounded, uncut side, then removed from the pan and drizzled with a dressing assembled with one salted anchovy, rinsed thoroughly and filleted, crushed in a small mortar, teaspoon of white wine vinegar and less than 2 tablespoons of olive oil added and stirred in, plus a little fresh juice from the Fantastic Gardens lemon mentioned above, some chopped parsley [and/or another herb] stirred in just before serving
• the wine was a California (Sonoma) white, Scott Peterson Rumpus California Sauvignon Blanc 2015, from Naked Wines
• the music was Alfred Schnittke’s Sympnonies No. 7, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Tadaaki Otaka

This time I strayed so far from the urtext of a recipe, one which I have used many times before, that I won’t even go into its antecedents.

I’ll only introduce the ingredients.

It’s a mystery to me why pollock is always so modestly priced at the fish market, because it really is a great fish, with excellent flavor and wonderful texture, and it’s really easy to prepare. It’s also amenable to any number of creative treatments, although I’d recommend not getting too fancy, or its very real virtues might end up hidden.

The other mystery is the phenomenal shape of Romanesco broccoli, normally unnaturally geometric, but this time, in parts, almost diabolically contorted, and also two-toned!

• two 8-ounce pollock fillets from Pura Vida Seafood, dried, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper, placed in a buttered copper au gratin pan, spread over the top with a mixture of soft butter, lemon zest, and some chopped red scallions from S. & S.O. Produce Farms [almost any other mild allium could be substituted], and one finely-chopped habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm, baked 12 to 15 minutes at 350º, removed to 2 plates, some micro red sorrel from Two Gus from Woodbridge briefly stirred into the pan juices, which were drizzled on top of the fillets, the dish finished with some more (fresh) micro sorrel
• fourteen sun gold tomatoes, from 2 different growers, Ryder Farm and Stokes Farm, heated with a little olive oil inside a small Pyrex glass pan until they had begun to soften, then seasoned with salt and pepper and added to the au gratin pan after the pollock had been removed, but before the sorrel had been added
• one magnificent Romanesco broccoli head from Berried Treasures, broken up into florets, tossed with a little olive oil (not too much, to guarantee a slightly crispy, slightly carbonized side dish), salt, pepper, and part of a seeded medium-hot red cherry pepper from Oak Grove Plantation, finely chopped, the mix spread onto one of my several Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic pans and roasted at 400º for about 25 minutes [it was necessary to juggle the fish and the vegetable inside the oven on account of the different oven temperatures required], removed from the oven, stirred, and served
• the wine was a California (Napa) white, Matt Iaconis Chardonnay Napa Valley 2015
• the music was Vivaldi’s ‘Armida’, Rinaldo Alessandrini directing Concerto Italiano