Instructions:
You can make your own fishcakes, of course, but the Island Deli ones are sufficiently substantial and carb-heavy to provide a really luxurious accompaniment. I use an air fryer, which I have found excellent in providing crisp outers and thoroughly heated inners for everything from chips to haggis. A light brushing with olive oil, in you go and you need to keep checking times, because the Power of The Air Fryer can be...unpredictable. Ten minutes should do it, but turn the fishcakes regularly. They should be reddish-brown on the outside. Switch the air fryer or oven off when done and leave them in to keep warm
French beans: season and cook in butter, adding some boiling water at the end and simmering for around five minutes. They can sit until the scallops, the literal kings and queens of this dish, are perfect. And they MUST be perfect.
Best to fry the black pudding, in olive oil (there’s more than enough saturated fat in those little discs of blackness) and once they’re ready (they should be moist and crumbly, not dry and crispy) Keep warm until the scallops are ready.
As for the scallops, put them in a plastic bag with salt, good olive oil, crushed garlic and black pepper, tossing them around a bit while being careful not to mash the orange “roe” (actually the hermaphrodite scallop’s reproductive organ). Fry in a very hot cast-iron pan in the marinade and some butter and a touch of olive oil. You want the outsides caramelised but DO NOT overcook. A minute a side, check for bounce.