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At Splendido, one of my fundamental beliefs is in using fresh, top quality, local products at the peak of their season. Considering our chilly climate, this can prove challenging through the long, cold winter. But as the weather warms across the country, each month brings new opportunities - whether it's white asparagus in May, Ontario peas in June or Niagara peaches in August.

Although I miss the halibut and chips of my youth in England, nothing compares with the excitement I feel every mid-March when the Canadian halibut season opens. It means spring is around the corner!

Halibut is the largest of the flatfish, with an average commercial weight of 25 to 30 pounds (though they have been known to grow up to 600 pounds). Hovering near the top of the marine food chain, they eat pretty much anything they can fit in their mouths, and can be found in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

The white flesh is firm and dense, and suited to a variety of cooking methods, making halibut one of the most popular fish on the global market. Its popularity has worked against it, however, as it is being overfished in certain sectors; when sourcing halibut, try to find West Coast fish instead of Atlantic.

Halibut is also a very nutrient-dense food, rich in vitamins B6 and B12. A high-

quality protein source, it has, like other cold-water fish, the omega-3 fatty acids that most North Americans lack in their diet. Omega-3s are thought to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and lower blood pressure, and may have certain cancer-fighting properties. As with almost all foods, the nutrient value decreases as the length of travel time to the table increases.

In Toronto, we don't have the benefit of being able to buy fish dockside from the fishermen who pulled it from the water. I do serve pickerel and whitefish from Lake Erie when they are in season, but it's the larger, saltwater fish that really capture my imagination. With a view to both sustainability and flavour, Pacific halibut from the Queen Charlotte Islands offers us a tasty, versatile and Canadian seafood option for our tables.

BAKED PACIFIC HALIBUT FILET, MOREL MUSHROOMS, COOKSTOWN POTATOES, JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES AND SHALLOTS

What you need

6 purple fingerling Cookstown potatoes (or other equivalent small potatoes)

4 Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed and peeled

4 small shallots, peeled

1 14-ounce Pacific halibut filet (bone-in - cooking it on the bone helps it retain moisture)

1 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon finely chopped shallots

2 teaspoons chopped tarragon

8 pieces B.C. morel mushrooms

Maldon sea salt for seasoning

What you do

Potatoes

Scrub the potatoes well under cold water. Lay about a cup of coarse salt in a piece of tinfoil. Nestle the potatoes in the salt and close up the tinfoil, forming a pocket. Bake at 375 F for about 45 minutes, or until

fork-tender.

Jerusalem Artichokes

Peel the artichokes, toss them with some olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Roast the artichokes in a 350 F oven, turning periodically to ensure even cooking, for about 25 minutes, or until a knife easily pierces them.

Shallots

Peel the shallots, leaving the root end intact. Heat a sauté pan over low heat with one teaspoon olive oil. Add the shallots to the pan, season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss the shallots and place them in a 350 F oven for about 40 minutes, turning periodically (they should take on a nice golden colour and be soft enough for a knife to pierce them easily).

Halibut

Put the wine, chopped shallots and tarragon in a pan large enough to hold the halibut. Season the halibut on both sides with the Maldon salt, and place it in the pan on top of the shallots.

Cover the pan with tinfoil, and bake at 350 F for about five minutes. Add the morel mushrooms and cook for another five minutes (the fish should be slightly opaque and start to flake when squeezed lightly).

PLATING

Remove the potatoes from the salt they were cooked on, slice into ½-inch-thick coins and place randomly in two heated bowls.

Place two Jerusalem artichokes and two shallots in each bowl.

Remove the fish from the pan, and very carefully pull the bone from the centre of the filet. Split into two equal portions, and place them over the vegetables.

Take the remaining liquid from the pan you cooked the fish in, and spoon it liberally over the fish and vegetables.

Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Serves 2.

Beppi's wine matches

A delicate and elegant preparation that deserves the same in a wine. Hence: white Burgundy! (That's chardonnay from central-eastern France.) Consider one of the best-value white Burgundies out there, Louis Jadot Bourgogne Chardonnay ($18.80 in Ontario) or Louis Jadot Couvent des Jacobins ($26.75 in British Columbia.). For red-wine fans, this would be a fine match for red Burgundy (a.k.a. pinot noir) or a pinot noir from a New World region such as California, Ontario or British Columbia. CedarCreek and Quails' Gate make some of the best in the Okanagan Valley.

Beppi Crosariol