The Ultimate British Summer Recipe. Smoked Garlic Buttered Cornish Hake.

Smoked Garlic Butter Cornish Hake with Jersey Royals and Tenderstem Broccoli – some meals don’t just taste like summer; they are summer. This one captures the season in every bite: flaky hake bathed in fragrant black garlic butter, soft buttery spuds, and vibrant greens. It’s light, luxurious, and made for those balmy evenings when all you want is something delicious on your plate and a cold glass of crisp white in your hand.

What makes this dish so special is its beautiful simplicity. There’s no complicated technique or obscure ingredient that you’ll need to hunt down in specialty shops. It’s just good, seasonal produce treated with the respect it deserves. The kind of cooking that doesn’t require cheffy skills or hours in the kitchen, but still delivers the sort of meal that makes you pause after the first bite and think, “Oh, isn’t this just rather lovely?!”

The star of the show is undoubtedly the Smoked Garlic Butter Cornish Hake – a fish that deserves far more attention than it typically gets. It’s a member of the cod family, but with a more delicate flavour and texture that sits somewhere between cod and sea bass. The smoked garlic butter it’s paired with adds a gentle complexity without overwhelming the fish’s natural sweetness.

But let’s not overlook the supporting cast. Jersey Royals are, in my opinion, one of the true joys of British Summertime. These small, waxy potatoes have a distinctive nutty flavour that makes them worth seeking out during their short season. Tossed while still warm with vibrant green edamame beans, fresh dill, Dijon mustard, a splash of single cream, fresh lemon, and those zingy, salty and rather delightful Drivers Capucine Capers they create a salad that’s substantial enough to satisfy but light enough to feel appropriate as the days grow longer and (hopefully) warmer.

The edamame adds such a lovely pop of colour and texture – not to mention a protein boost. I’m slightly obsessed with these particular capers – they’re plumper and more flavourful than standard ones, and worth seeking out for that extra touch of luxury.

The tenderstem broccoli, simply steamed with a touch of olive oil and sea salt, adds colour, crunch, and a welcome vegetal note to balance the richness of the fish.

What I particularly love about this meal is how it manages to feel both special and effortless. It’s the kind of dinner you could happily serve to friends (accompanied by a crisp white wine and some good sourdough for mopping up the buttery juices) without spending hours in the kitchen. But it’s equally perfect for a midweek treat when you want something a bit more elevated than your standard midweek dinner fare.

The entire meal comes together in about 30 minutes, and it’s the definition of minimum effort, maximum reward. It’s one of those rare dishes that looks absolutely stunning on the plate – all those vibrant colours and textures – but tastes even better than it looks.

The Cornish Hake and those delightful Drivers Capucine Capers elevate it to something very special, but even with substitutions, you’ll still create something magnificent. These are my kind of meals – the ones that make you look like a culinary genius while barely breaking a sweat, the ones that transform dinner from a chore into a joy.

And if you’ve been hesitant about cooking fish at home, this is the recipe that will convert you – it makes eating fish an absolute pleasure.

And if you’re ever in doubt just add lashings of chives and butter.

Now, onto the recipe itself, with lots of love and lashings of butter…

P.S. You can find the video for this recipe over on my Tik Tok here.