Masterclass review: Cooking fish with Aldo Zilli

The charismatic Italian chef is an expert with fish - just what could you glean from his one-day fish cookery course? James Garner went to find out...

My one-day course started early, so I booked a cab to pick me up - at 5.30am. Blearily eyed I left my warm bed and travelled across to Docklands, south London... and was met by a traffic jam. Imagine my astonishment...a traffic jam at that ungodly hour? I then realised it was the queue to get into Billingsgate Market car park. Obviously there is a whole world of things going on whilst I am normally tucked up in bed.

Upon entering the market I was met by a cacophony of sounds, smells and sights. It was packed with people - traders shouting and advertising their wares, porters darting inbetween the punters, yelling and warning people to move out of the way and avoid being run over by the trolleys laden with boxes of fish. Surprisingly the smell of fish wasn't that strong but there was definite all pervading scent of the sea. And I could see fish of every imaginable size, colour and shape.

There were eight of us on the course that day and we'd arranged to meet up with Lusia, Aldo Zilli's assistant, at 6.30, when the market starts to wind down a bit. Lusia started by showing us different types of lobster and explaining how to identify both the gender and the main breeds available. It is with great pride that I can now happily sex a lobster! Then we moved onto scallops and learnt the difference between dredger scallops and the more expensive diver scallops. The former is cheaper, as they are gathered in bulk and dredged (dragged) along the seabed.  This means they come complete with sand and other debris and are harder to clean.

Next the fish...  We were told how to determine freshness by looking at the clarity of the eyes, pink or bloody gills, firmness, flexibility and of course the all-important smell. If a fish smells fishy, it is either old or off. Some of our group took the opportunity to buy some fish from Aldo's regular suppliers - at Aldo's prices.

After the tour of the market, we paid a quick visit to the onsite café where we met some of the characters from the market; we then made our way to Zilli Fish, in Brewer Street. There we had a welcoming Italian coffee (and mighty good coffee it was too!!) before we headed into the kitchen where Aldo himself was there to meet us.

He began with a demonstration of how to prepare a lobster (not one for the squeamish) and make guitar spaghetti (using guitar strings to cut the pasta). We then had to have a go... with mixed results. All I can say is you can see why pre-packaged pasta is so popular!

For a celebrity chef, I found Aldo Zilli unassuming and very affable. Yes, he seemed a bit demanding, but the whole session was punctuated with humour and light teasing. 

Next we moved onto preparing the all-important fish. We were shown how to gut and de-bone a sardine, prepare squid and fillet a sea bream. And again we got the chance to put into practice what we'd been shown. 

Finally Aldo demonstrated making various dishes and sauces including lamb ragu, clams, lobster risotto and carbonara. We tasted all of the dishes he prepared (just to make sure they were okay)... they were all fantastic.

We had a fabulous lunch with wines selected by the sommelier, who explained where they originated and the different flavours we should detect.

At 3.30pm this truly inspirational day was over - and the budding chefs were looking forward to trying out the techniques on family and friends.

Aldo Zilli's masterclass costs £300 per day (excluding VAT) and, for the fish lover, it's an ideal present. For further information go to www.zillialdo.com. For info on Billingsgate go to www.billingsgate-market.org.uk.

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