Thomas Wilson is North East England’s answer to Robbie Burns. Wilson’s most famous piece, The Pitman’s Pay, is written in Geordie dialect. It’s a reet canny poem, of course, but the interesting thing to me is that he refers to turbot as ‘brat’. I have to confess that I’d assumed that the word’s history was more Taff than Toon, given Welsh chef Tomos Parry’s close association with it. Shows you how much I know…. Anyway, since setting up BRAT in 2018 Parry has deservedly made his name by cooking whole turbots in the Basque style, over an open wood fire. It's a fabulous technique as it really brings out all the sticky, finger-lickin’ gelatinous loveliness that this stunning fish has to offer, on top of the rich, chunky white flesh that we all know and love. But if you don’t fancy competing with the Shoreditch massive for a table with Tomos, then I have good news: you can eat Basque style turbot at home by following this beautifully short, easy-to-follow recipe by the FT’s Tim Hayward. Eeeeeee, what a Bobby Dazzla! NickPS - the market reopens in September.