I'd never been a fan of fish, except battered fish from the chip shop.
There, I've said it. Call me what you will, but I just didn't like it. I suppose being allergic to shellfish put me off all kinds of fish, except a piece of cod, haddock or salmon.. You know where you are with them.
Until this year that is.
As the covid pandemic spread and the lockdown began, most of us only left our small village to buy food or fetch medicines.
During the first lockdown, I was cooking lots of different recipes and decided I would try cooking with fish more. A fishmonger visits the neighbouring village every Tuesday afternoon so I wondered whether he would drive a mile up the hill to our village if there was enough demand.
Paul Farrell, or Paul the Fish as a few of us call him, said yes, he would come once to see if it would be worth it. So, was it? Let's just put it this way, like Julius Caesar, he came, he saw, he conquered.
It was a sunny Tuesday lunchtime, and as he arrived by the church gates, there were about fifteen people waiting for him in a socially distanced queue. It was very convivial as we all saw people we hadn't seen for weeks, and everyone eagerly bought fish as if it were going out of fashion.
Paul has been coming to our village ever since, and do you know what? I'm really enjoying trying different types of fish.
His immaculately clean refrigerated vehicle always has a good selection of fresh fish and shellfish. Haddock....plain, smoked yellow and plain smoked, cod, plaice, hake, halibut, salmon, dressed crab, prawns, mussels, crevettes, lemon sole, Dover sole, trout and if you want lobster, he will order it in for you.
He's busy and works long hours, but he's thankful. This year hasn't been kind to the fishing industry in this country. In March, the beginning of the first lockdown, he wondered whether his business would survive.
Why we should eat more fish
So I'm doing just that and enjoying many new recipes along the way.
A favourite though is Arbroath smokies or smoked haddock gratin, whatever you like to call it. This is a fairly vague recipe which was dictated to me via a friend of mine, but it's delicious...
Ingredients
large onion, finely sliced or died
large glass of white wine
6 rashers of bacon, cuts into strips
250gms of cheddar cheese, grated
450 gms smoked haddock, cut into small pieces
half a stock cube - (fish, or vegetable,I use Swiss bouillon powder)
300 mls of water
300mls of double cream
How to make it
Chop the onion and bacon.
Heat a few glugs of olive oil in a saucepan, and then brown the onion and bacon.
Reduce by about a half, then add the cream. As soon as it starts to boil turn the heat down. Add the grated cheese
Add the cubed haddock and cook gently for about 6 minutes, then transfer to an oven dish.
Top with some more grated cheese and some chopped parsley.
Finally, brown under a preheated grill until the cheese bubbles. Or, like I do, put into the oven and bake for another 5 - 10 minutes before serving.
This is a very forgiving dish, and it will stay in the oven on a very low light quite happily for a while. This week, I added mushrooms to brown at the same time as the onion and bacon, for a change, which worked well.
This serves four people and I usually serve this with some new potatoes either boiled or roasted, asparagus, tenderstem or purple sprouting broccoli, peas or french beans - whichever is in season.
Or for real comfort food on a cold, wintery night, you could just dunk a couple of hunks of good bread or toast in this tasty, cheesy, fishy dish and spoon up the rest of the sauce. It's filling.
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