An edited recipe from Saint Peter by Josh Niland, published by Hardie Grant Books.

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 very fresh garfish, butterflied, rib bones removed, head and tail intact (approximately 100 g each)

80 g sea salt flakes

250 ml champagne vinegar

120 ml Perelló gordal olive brine

65 ml extra virgin olive oil

4 slices sourdough bread, to serve

Cultured butter, to serve

Method

To pickle the garfish, season both the skin and flesh sides evenly with the sea salt. Place on a tray and refrigerate, uncovered, for 90 minutes.

Rinse the salt from the fish using a small amount of the champagne vinegar. Submerge the rinsed fish in the remaining vinegar and leave to pickle for approximately 35 minutes.

Remove the garfish from the vinegar, reserving the vinegar for the next batch.

Lay each fish skin side up. Cut the head and tail from the fish and set them aside for presentation. Separate the two fillets, keeping them side by side.

Using fish pliers or tweezers, take hold of a corner of the skin closest to where the head was and gently peel away the skin, leaving the silver skin behind.

Keeping the two fillets together, slice them simultaneously into pieces approximately 5 mm thick, working from head to tail.

Arrange the slices from one garfish on each of four serving plates. Begin with the head positioned at twelve o’clock and finish with the tail at six o’clock.

Divide the olive brine and extra virgin olive oil between four small jugs, using 30 ml olive brine and 15 ml olive oil per serving.

Serve the garfish with warm sourdough and cultured butter, pouring the olive brine mixture over the fish to finish.

Rip. Dip. Butter. Fish.

The instruction to the guest is simple:

Rip off a small piece of warm sourdough. Dip it into the brine. Liberally butter the bread. Top it with the pickled garfish.

RIP. DIP. BUTTER. FISH.

This is an edited extract from Saint Peter by Josh Niland, published by Hardie Grant Books. Available in stores from 1 September. Photography by David Loftus