Like many things, fish is so much cheaper in Spain than in England. And there are so many varieties, fresh and frozen, to choose from. All the large supermarkets have an excellent fish counter, and the indoor markets boast several fishmongers.

In addition, LIDL and Eroski sell individually frozen and wrapped whole fish and fillets of all shapes and sizes. You can buy a frozen tuna fillet for about 60 cents,* while a sole will cost about £1.25, so you can feast on fish as often as you like without taking out a second mortgage.

Tony and I enjoy fish at least twice a week, either barbecued or pan fried. It’s winter harvest time for oranges and lemons now, so they’re really cheap. As a bonus, we have citrus groves just down the road from us, and ripe fruit very often falls to the pavement. The growers don’t mind if you take these ‘windfalls’ home with you, so we’ve now got a fruit bowl full of lovely oranges and lemons.

We love a gin and tonic with ice and lemon, but we’ve now discovered another use for our surplus lemons! While this recipe is not exclusively Spanish – we’ve come across variations of it in France and Italy – it fulfils the Mediterranean requirements of making a meal from good quality ingredients, simply cooked. Buen Apetito!

Ingredients to serve 2 People

• 2 cod fillets (or any firm-fleshed white fish, such as haddock or hake)
• Seasoned flour
• 1 large lemon, or 2 small ones
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp fresh or freeze dried parsley
• Salt and freshly milled pepper

Preparation Method

Coat fillets with seasoned flour.

Squeeze juice from lemon. Make sure lemon is at room temperature, as this will give more juice

Heat oil and cook fish for about 5 minutes each side. Now add the lemon juice and seasoning. Allow sauce to bubble and thicken for a minute or two, then stir in the parsley. That’s all, folks!

Serve with new potatoes and peas, green beans or salad. At the moment, there are lots of lovely fresh peas and beans around on the Spanish markets. They may cost a little more than the tinned variety, but it’s worth it for the flavour.

*At the time of writing, Sterling is almost on a par with the Euro, so Euro prices are around the same as English prices.