Recipe: barracuda and pineapple ceviche

Mark Hix shows how he cooks his catch of the day in this fiesty take on a Peruvian classic

I always like to anticipate what I'll cook with a catch, even if the chances of success are slim. In this case, I had a ceviche in mind with whatever we caught, large or small.

The barracuda was certainly fairly substantial, and way too much for lunch for the four of us. But we did have another part of the trip where food would be needed if we didn't manage to nail a boar. The shopping in the port had been limited, but I'd spotted a solitary pineapple and some spring onions in a greengrocer's.

We'd already bought some fresh coriander and chilli from the market in Florence for the anticipated boar curry feast, so this ceviche was our lunch on the boat, washed down with some tequila that we ordered from the bar at Il Pellicano.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• About 400g very fresh white fish fillet, boned and cut into roughly 1cm cubes
• 2-3 spring onions, finely chopped 2 green or red chillies, finely chopped
• About 200g peeled pineapple flesh, cut into roughly 1cm cubes and any juice reserved
• 2tbs fresh coriander, chopped
• Juice of 2-3 limes
• 1tbs sparkling mineral water
• 1tbs extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and pepper

It's important that the ingredients for this ceviche aren't mixed too far in advance, otherwise the fish will cook, so simply mix everything together and season to taste with sea salt and pepper a couple of minutes before you are ready to serve.

Taken from Hooked by Mark Hix. Read the book review here