I constantly draw on my early food experiences as inspiration for the recipes I create for both The Fat Duck and The Hinds Head. One of the dishes at The Fat Duck that is written about a lot is the sardines-on-toast ice cream. What I love about it is that it takes me straight back to my childhood. When I was ill, I turned to Heinz tomato soup, boiled egg and soldiers or sardines on toast — I loved the texture the bones gave, and preferred it made with white sliced bread. The ice cream captures this memory, but for a more conventional take, here is the recipe for sardines on toast that we use at The Hinds Head.

SARDINES ON TOAST

Serves 2

For the anchovy sauce
75g unsalted butter
1 x 100g tin Spanish anchovy fillets in oil, drained

For the dish
4 sardines, filleted (ask your fishmonger to do it)
Lemon juice
Fleur de sel (or use sea salt)
2 freshly sliced pieces of bread
20ml anchovy sauce (see above)
10g rocket Olive oil
Cracked black pepper

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a pan over a low heat, add the drained anchovies and cook for 20 mins until the anchovies have dissolved into a paste. Pass through a fine sieve to remove the bones.

Place the sardine fillets under a high grill for 3-4 mins, making sure they do not become overcooked. Remove the backbone if you didn’t before cooking (it’s usually easier when they have been cooked) and season with some lemon juice and fleur de sel.

Grill the bread, put on a plate, then drizzle with the anchovy sauce. Place the sardines on top and drizzle over a little more sauce. Lightly dress the rocket with olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning, then serve alongside the sardines on toast. Eat immediately.