Recipes

Hederman's whole smoked mackerel, celeriac remoulade, mackerel cream, pickles, sea vegetables, beetroot and rye crisps

Serves 2-4 | Modern European | First course or main salad

A whole beautiful smoked mackerel, broken open and paired with pickles, a smooth creamy mackerel patê, rye sourdough crisps, and soft celeriac remoulade. The iodine tang from the sea vegetables gives a lovely contrast in flavour to the rich smoky mackerel. Smoked paprika and bitter leaves give another flavour to this delicious starter.

Herderman's smoked haddock carpaccio & Gillette's, pumpkin puree, mustard pickle

Serves 2-3 | Modern European | First course, light lunch

This is a different way of using Smoked Haddock… it’s not just for fish pies or fishcakes. Here, it’s sliced through the length very thinly without any cooking and decorated with some simple garnishes which can be prepared well in advance and all compiled at the last minute.

Hederman's smoked mackerel winter salad with sprouted mung beans and golden preserved lemon dressing

Serves 2 | Irish/Asian | Lunch or first course

Winter usually means comfort food but I often crave the brightness of a good, crunchy, fresh salad especially if I can get a hold of good quality organic root vegetables. I’m really lucky I have friends who always have some to offer at this time of year and the flavour makes the difference in something simple like this. The mackerel also just seems to add the right soft, rich, umami contrast to the sweet crispness of the rest of the salad. The base of this salad is some sprouted mung beans which might seem a bit alien but these are just the same bean sprouts that are often stir fried or added to spring rolls in Chinese cooking. You certainly do not need to go to the hassle of sprouting these yourself (though it is very fun and easy) a base of cooked and cooled chickpeas, rice, barley or puy lentils would be excellent too.

Hederman's smoked mackerel tacos with pea guacamole and sea buckthorn hot sauce

Serves 2/4 | Irish/Mexican | Lunch or dinner

We are obsessed with tacos in our house and make them really frequently. They are the perfect little snack. Highly customisable, fresh and delicious. I have used peas as an alternative to avocado in a guacamole style sauce that is also inspired by mushy peas – a classic fish combination. The tortillas might seem like a faff but they’re really pretty simple to make with a rolling pin and worth making from scratch for that authentic flavour. They would of course work beautifully with some shop bought taco shells or tortillas. Add the hot sauce you love – sea buckthorn is still in season in winter and we have been using this sauce on everything.

Hederman's smoked mackerel toasts with Jerusalem artichoke soup

Serves 4, generously | Irish | Lunch, or first course

This dish is all about making the most of contrast. The soup is simple but extremely velvety, nutty and sweet. The toasts are salty, spiced and most importantly fried in butter so they’re also crisp and very very dunkable. Also good by themselves but together they are a dream. The mackerel butter they are made with is also just very good spread on hot toast with a bit of chilli flakes on top. Jerusalem artichokes aren’t a common supermarket veg so this would work extremely well with parsnips or even carrots instead.

Hederman's smoked salmon with sloe gin and wild pickles on oatmeal bread

Serves

This dish is very much inspired by my brilliant friend Erin Bunting of the Edible Flower who has a recipe using gin and beetroot as a quick marinade for smoked salmon. I have given this a seasonal twist using home made sloe gin and adding some additional spice and sweetness to the marinade. Although the marinade is strong it only penetrates the very outside of the fish and gives it the most incredible colour.