Thornback ray. A variety of ray with very good flavour, the wings and the liver only being eaten. The wings have strips of cartilage running through them, rather than bone, and are easy to deal with at the table as the flesh drops away readily. As the name suggests, the backs of the fish may have clumps of coarse thorny spines, swelling at the base. These are called bucklers. Thornbacks have a range right from Iceland to the Mediterranean.

Lovage. A large unwieldy herb. Pick the stems off the leaves, tie them and hang them to dry for about 3 days. When crisp, crumble the leaves and store. Good in hotpots. Lovage seeds are used mainly in Indian cooking, and are from a plant of the caraway family. The greenish-brown seeds are a little larger than celery seeds and have a strong aroma of rather coarse thyme. Oregano can be substituted.