Hot Smoked Mackerel Salad

 

Though I love smoked mackerel, it just isn’t the weather for salads anymore. Mum-y and I needed something that would warm us up for dinner, and with our sad packet of smoked mackerel sitting in the fridge only a day away from its sell-by, the time had come for some internet digging. I set about in search of enlightenment but google “smoked mackerel recipes” and all you get is pâté. Chicken liver, yes. Fish on a cold day? No thanks. Nigel Slater put me more in the right direction with something hot, so this recipe is a bastardisation of what I found. I’m afraid to report that Slater’s dressing wasn’t what I fancied, so instead I stole a few ideas from pâté ingredients and knocked up a creamy, herby, lemony number that set everything off beautifully. I wouldn’t have thought that mackerel would go particularly well with a rich, creamy sauce, but that punch of lemon juice is amazing. It works so well with the potatoes too, offsetting their sweetness while teasing you back for more.