Overview
There's always something new in the works from Josh Niland. There's always another restaurant on the way, someone throwing the Sydney seafood chef some love or a reason to try his nose-to-tail approach to the ocean's finest. In the past year or so alone, he's opened his second iteration of seafood butchery and takeaway shop Fish Butchery in Waterloo, announced plans to take over The Grand National Hotel and move restaurant Saint Peter into it, and launched restaurant and bar Petermen in St Leonards. Oh, and he was the only Australian to make the top 100 best chefs in the world list for 2022, and scored the Game Changer Award from France's prestigious La Liste with his wife Julie.
Next on the list: slipping back into home kitchens everywhere. As much of a delight as it would be to have Niland drop by your door and whip you up at meal, that sadly isn't on the menu — but helping you learn his tricks of the trade, and make his recipes, is. Already, Niland has released two cookbooks: The Whole Fish Cookbook in 2019 and its sequel Take One Fish. Next comes a tome with a familiar name, aka Fish Butchery.
Rob Palmer
For his third foray into print, the chef will share his expert techniques, and also some of his pioneering recipes. In the process, as his cuisine always does whether you're eating at his restaurants or working through his tips at home, he'll be advocating for culinary sustainability.
Readers will peruse the manual's three sections — entitled 'Catch', 'Cut' and 'Craft' — for detailed instructions on how to prepare fish, plus 40-plus dishes to make. So, get ready to learn the reverse-butterfly and double-saddle methods, then cook up fish sticks, fish pies, fish sausages and fish chorizo.
Josh Niland at the Talisker and Saint Peter pop-up.
Debuting in hard cover and spanning 272 pages, Fish Butchery will hit bookstores on Wednesday, August 30.
If you're a seafood fiend, you'll want to make space on your kitchen shelves ASAP — next to The Whole Fish Cookbook andTake One Fish, of course. The former nabbed Niland the James Beard Book of the Year Award back in 2020, becoming the first Australian do win the acclaimed prize. And the latter focused on 15 global varieties of fish, giving readers 60-plus ways to cook them up.
Josh Niland at Charcoal Fish.
Fish Butchery: Mastering The Catch, Cut And Craft will release on Wednesday, August 30.
Top image: Rob Palmer, The Whole Fish Cookbook.