An easy and delicious dish with smoked mackerel is simple to make and can be prepared on a weekend for a busy week ahead. Just serve it with toast and a hint of truffle butter to hit all those taste buds.
To be honest, I think smoked mackerel is undeservedly underestimated. If you prepare it in the right way this ingredient is absolutely brilliant. It’s cheap, it is easily accessible, and adds one more fishy meal to your diet which is so important.
This recipe brings back my childhood memories, when my mum and I used to buy a whole smoked mackerel, mix it with mayo, freshly grained pepper and eat it in one go. Just the two of us. No sharing with the rest of our family, every trace was subsequently covered, and we never felt any regrets sneaking in our favourite meal. The taste was simply too good to share with the rest of the family! Thinking about it now, I’m not sure why we never bought two mackerels instead of one to share them with the whole family. I guess it was just one of those mum and daughter things.
Now, I am living in a different country, not a child anymore, but I keep doing the same thing. Smoked mackerel, mayo and a slice of toast is everything that I need for my afternoon snack and every time I eat it, it brings back memories from the kitchen where my mum and I used to laugh a lot. Through bringing back my simple childhood dish and experimenting with adding different ingredients and textures, I am happy to say that this meal can’t be kept in hiding any longer. It needs to be shared with everyone.
This recipe will take you less than 5 minutes to make. It can be done on a weekend for the busy week ahead and can stay in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Also, in relate to this and as my weekly preparation I made hummus with smoked paprika. Absolutely divine!
Recipe Swaps
As always, don’t forget to improvise in the kitchen and use whatever you have in your cupboard. For example, you can swap these products or techniques:
- Mayo – if you don’t have it, just mix egg yolks with a splash of oil and salt until the mixture gets thick.
- Capers – swap them for any strong tasting product. This could be onions, pickled cucumbers or olives.
- Chives – you can use fresh parsley or dill.
- Food processor – for my recipe I was using a food processor, but if you don’t have one, you can just finely chop the ingredients until everything is combined.
If you try this recipe, let me know what you think and if you liked it.
Recipe
Ingredients:
2 smoked mackerel fillets
50g capers
1 tablespoon of mayo
1 teaspoon of mustard
½ lemon juice
A bunch of chives
A twist of black pepper
To serve:
A slice of wholemeal toast
A knob of truffle butter
- Add all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz them until everything is combined and has a paste texture.
- Serve it on toast with truffle butter. Add the mackerel mix with a twist of black pepper.
