I’d like to be the sort of mother whose child happily chomps on organic vegetables all the livelong day. But instead, we’ve reached a negotiated settlement around fruit, with occasional pieces of carrots and broccoli thrown in, admittedly with menaces and a splash of soy. But we do all eat fish. Perhaps because of all the sushi I schnarfed when pregnant. It took me a while to feel confident cooking it though. Brought up eating cod that was battered or bread-crumbed, or kippers the unsettling hue of a bad fake tan; the idea of handling a raw slimy creature with googly eyes, fins and scales initially filled me with horror. The first time I prepared a sink-full of mussels, I kept shrieking when I pulled their beards, thinking they were going to come after me. Then I watched someone cooking a whole fish in foil, and it gave me some courage. No need for filleting, or other knife-related activities likely to end badly for me and the fish. I bought some lovely, gutted trout at the Farmer’s Market, bright-eyed and excellent value. I washed them and laid each one on a piece of foil. Inside went a bay leaf (because I’ve got a bay tree in the garden - fennel or other fresh herbs work beautifully too - dried ones not so much), slices of garlic, and lemon. White wine sloshed in, plus a scattering of salt and pepper. The parcel needs to be sealed and placed in a hot-ish oven (180-190c) for about 30-40 mins. You get a lovely waft of garlic, wine and fish when you unwrap it. Great with new potatoes and salad, largely ignored by small people. The fish, on the other hand, was gobbled down. EC