Something fishy with Simon Rhodes from Lobsterpot Fishmongers, Wood Street Food Hall

THIS amazing dish derives from the more famous steak tartare which was popularised in France during the early 20th century.

It was made of raw top quality beef or horsemeat, ground and accompanied with a raw egg yolk.

It was called tartare on account of the sauce with capers used to accompany the steak. The capers were then finely chopped and incorporated into the chopped meat. Other ingredients such as Worcestershire Sauce, onions, ground black pepper and mustard were introduced to give the dish more depth of flavour.

Salmon tartare is a more delicate dish and doesn’t require the big flavours of steak tartare.

Light herbs such as dill or tarragon and lemon are used to keep the dish light and fragranced.

The salmon should be super fresh and even a good quality smoked salmon can be used.

Salmon tartare is ideal as a starter for dinner parties or a special meal. It is easy to prepare and if presented well can look very exquisite.

If salmon is not your thing then you can also use tuna, scallops or even crab.

To make a good salmon tartare place a salmon fillet into a bowl and coat the fillet with a combination of sea salt, sugar and chopped dill (for a 500g fillet use 2 tbsp of each) and place in a fridge for at least 48 hours. After the fillet has marinated, chop it into fine chunks. Then place some chopped fresh tarragon the juice of a lemon, salt and pepper and a little Dijon mustard into a bowl. Add the salmon and stir all the ingredients together.

Place the mixture into a steel cooking or biscuit ring and top with either cream cheese or, if you are feeling adventurous, you could top it with a combination of mashed avocado, pitted black olives and olive oil with finely chopped chives.