Hook Line Sinker: A Seafood Cookbook

Galton Blackston is chef-owner at Morston Hall, a country inn in Norfolk; his restaurant there has held a Michelin star since 1999.

Hook Line Sinker is not precisely a chronicle of the seafood he serves at Morston Instead, it's a personal collection of imaginative recipes, written by a man whose introduction to cooking came from his childhood love of fishing and shrimping.

The more than 90 recipes here display a globe-spanning awareness of what good cooks do with seafood, and a willingness to borrow ideas and combine them smartly. Pan-fried halibut is served over a bleu cheese-pear salad with yuzu dressing. Squid in black bean sauce is dressed with fried shallots, lime juice, and cilantri. Seared smoked salmon filets come with potatoes and nasturtium salsa. A tart of salt-cured mackerel is served with a salad of yellow beets and shaved fennel.

Hook Line Sinker is impressively fresh and full of appealing ideas.

PVC-jacketed paperback with silver edge stain. Color photographs throughout.