A seafood platter is a great way to bring seafood into a buffet without requiring any cooking on the day. All the items are cured or can be made in advance, so you don’t need to race to the shops at the last minute. It is great to serve this as an entree while you prepare the main meal or organise the salads. Done.
SEAFOOD PLATTER
Serves: 4–6
Ingredients
- 2 whole smoked trout
- 200g jar of marinated octopus
- salted cod/baccala, or other tinned or marinated seafood like mussels or another preserved fish, such as rollmops
- 300–400g of smoked salmon or cured (gravlax) salmon
- 1 eschalot, finely sliced
- watercress
- lemons, cut into cheeks
- limes, cut into wedges
To serve
- To bone and skin the trout, place a hand-washing bowl next to your prep area. Remove the fins and then peel away the skin. Pick up the tail and gently remove the flesh from the spine. Then pick up the spine and remove from the back fillet. Run a fork or tweezers along the bone line and any bones that have been left behind will pop up. Remove these, dipping the tweezers or fork in the water each time. Flake the fillets into large pieces and put aside ready for serving. This can be done a day in advance.
- Place the marinated octopus in a small bowl, and do the same for any other preserved fish or mussels you are using.
- For the smoked salmon or gravlax, separate the slices and lay out on the platter.
- Place other seafood around on the platter, then top with the sliced eschalot.
- Fill any spaces with watercress, and serve with lime wedges and lemon cheeks. Place a few forks for ease of serving, and some side plates for guests to help themselves.
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