Recipe: Miso glazed toothfish

When I was a little girl my dad used to be deep sea diver professionally so I always feel like I grew up suckling on a crayfish claw with my legs kicking in the water. While those days of kilos and kilos of seafood splayed out on our lawn after each outing on the ocean are gone, my adoration for all things from the sea has not wavered in the slightly. To say I have an obsession is definitely an understatement.

One of my favourite things to eat in the world is toothfish. There's something just so wonderful about the delicate flavour, the softness and the slight sweetness. So when I was contacted by Austral Fisheries to learn about their patagonian toothfish sustainability program, I obviously was quick to say yes. Not only was the experience really interesting, but I was fortunate enough to walk away with some fillets of their Glacier 51 toothfish product. I filed them away into my freezer while I waited for the right opportunity and right recipe to use this premium product for.

Hauling the toothfish all the way from Heard Island in the sub-Antarctic, a staggering 4,109 km from mainland Australia, Austral Fisheries have helped transform the stigma behind toothfish. Years ago until recently people have refused to purchase this beautiful seafood because of the unsustainable fishing practices. But now Australia’s Heard Island Glacier 51 Toothfish fishery undergoes rigorous annual stock assessments in collaboration with the Australia Antarctic Division to ensure accurate ongoing monitoring of the stock. It's created a truly sustainable approach to fishing for this product. Something that we are all the beneficiaries of!

So taking my fillets home I thought carefully about how I'd like to cook them as I wanted to give this produce as much respect as possible.