One of my favourite incarnations of Sicily's gutsy seafood: fried fillets of sardines swimming in a glorious sweet-sour sauce of melted onions and Mediterranean herbs.
Steer clear of the menu turistico, though, and follow the locals, ordering a €20 platter of grigliata di pesce – sole fillets, delicate red mullet, huge scampi, baby cuttlefish – easily enough for two.
Don't worry – it is happy to pay excess baggage on those cases of Aldi mackerel fillets in tomato sauce, or, as it likes to think of them, the tools of its trade.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large, nonstick frying pan and cook the fish fillets skin side down for a few minutes until golden, then turn and cook for a further minute.
Meanwhile, warm the mackerel fillets through under a hot grill – about five minutes each side.
Add the orange zest, tomatoes, red pepper, bay leaf, thyme, saffron, chilli flakes and prawns, and the fish fillets.
When the food appeared – a vast spread of spicy chicken, rice, fried bananas, huge pastries called doubles, stewed channa, fillets of Banga Mary (a local fish), and enormous flagons of punch – they gathered round in a scrum.
I had wild garlic soup, zander fillets with polenta and asparagus, and a yoghurt parfait.
What we used to spend on impulse buys – or some of it – then goes on a decent wedge of Lincolnshire Poacher, a couple of fillets of haddock or some good beef, sold to us by smiling, helpful, talkative people whose names we may know, and whose businesses matter both to them and us.
In winter, you're looking at hearty lamb shanks, fillets of beef and magret de canard; in summer, expect Dutch asparagus with new potatoes, young peas in salads, and fragrant strawberries in sweet "soup".
Melt three anchovy fillets in oil with a clove or two of chopped garlic, then add breadcrumbs made from stale bread, and toast until golden.
