With Simon Rhodes, of the Lobster Pot Fishmongers in Wood Street Food Hall

A couple of years ago cod was in serious decline – so much so, that Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall decided to do something about it and crusaded on his fish fight.

I too was a crusader and ended up doing an interview on Radio Berkshire with Debbie Magee (Paul Daniels’ wife) where I tried to persuade the people of Berkshire to sign up to my petition against the senseless discards.

During my crusade I even managed to speak with Richard Benyon (the then fisheries minister) about the strong feeling that Berkshirians have about EU regulations and the need for change in our approach to sustainable fishing.

Now, after my 35-second interview with Debs at half past ‘God, is that the time?’ on a Sunday morning and my little chat with Rich, the stock levels of cod have made a remarkable recovery.

And all thanks to me! Well, I suppose Hugh played a small part as well.

So this week’s Fish Talk is about cod. Did you know that smoked cods’ roe makes the most amazing taramasalata? Just blitz the roe with some garlic, lemon juice, breadcrumbs and olive oil and serve with some warm pitta bread.

Cod is an exremely versatile fish. It has a large family consisting of coley, pollack, hake, haddock, whiting and pouting.

As we know it is the staple for fish and chips and is just wonderful simply baked.

It is now (thanks to me!) extremely abundant around our shores and so to this end I am offering a free, yes free, cod steak to any customer who metions this article in the Wood Street Foodhall on Friday or Saturday.

I will also give you a special recipe that will enlighten you as to what a wonderful fish cod can be.

So there you have it...a free meal.

The only catch being the cod!