Book of Days Tales

Tartan Day is a celebration of Scottish heritage on April 6^th, the date on which the Declaration of Arbroath was signed in 1320. The Declaration was a document agreed to by a number of Scottish lords and sent to the pope stating:

As long as a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be subjected to the lordship of the English. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.

Hooray !! Yet again I get to sing the praises of the cooking of Scotland and to thumb my nose at the ignorami. This time I will focus on smoked fish. I well remember an oddly shaped package arriving at our house in South Australia when I was a teen. It was from my father’s brother and carried an Arbroath postmark. My father could not contain his joy when he opened it up to find a pair of Arbroath smokies – whole haddock split open and hot smoked. An amazing treat. Smoked fish is common in Scotland, the other popular one being Finnan Haddie.

Either of these fish can be made into a soup known as Cullen Skink – smoked fish in a milky/creamy fish broth with onions (or leeks) and potatoes. There are plenty of variants to suit all tastes. I tend to keep the flavorings to a minimum because the smoked fish provides plenty of savor. I use leeks for that reason. If you cook and mash the potatoes, the soup is thick but lacks variety in texture. Always it’s cook’s choice mixed with a strong dose of regional and family tradition. I prefer half mashed, half diced.

Cullen Skink

Ingredients:

1lb/500g undyed smoked haddock, skin on
1 bay leaf
1tbsp butter
2 leeks washed and cut into chunks
2 medium potatoes, unpeeled, cut into chunks
2 cups/500ml whole milk or ½ milk, ½ cream
chives, chopped, to garnish

Instructions:

Put the fish into a pan just large enough to hold it comfortably, and cover with cold water (do not drown it). Add the bay leaf, and bring gently to the boil. By the time it comes to the boil, the fish should be just cooked – if it’s not, then give it another minute or so. Remove from the pan a slotted spoon, and set it aside and the broth to cool.

Melt the butter in another pan on a medium-low heat, and add the leeks. Cover and allow to sweat, without coloring, for about 10 minutes or until softened. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper.

Add the potato and stir to coat with butter. Pour in the haddock cooking liquor and bay leaf, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the potato is tender.

Meanwhile, remove the skin, and any bones from the haddock, and break into flakes.

Lift out a generous slotted spoonful of potatoes and leeks, and set aside. Discard the bay leaf. Add the milk, and half the haddock to the pan, and mash roughly with a fork.

Serve with a generous spoonful of the potato, leek and haddock mixture in each bowl, and a sprinkling of chives.