Smoked mackerel salad
Insalata di sgombro affumicato
Smoked mackerel salad works great with bread, beer or white wine as a light summer lunch.
Along the coast of Sicily local fishers produce smoked mackerel, and as oily fish come with a health recommendation, I try to prepare some, though it is not the most delicately flavoured seafood. This recipe for smoked mackerel salad works great with bread, beer or white wine as a light summer lunch, but the characteristic taste makes it hard to combine with other dishes.
Ingredients
1 smoked mackerel
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp yoghurt (or sour cream/créme fraiche, if you can find it)
6 cocktail tomatoes
6 gherkin cornichons
Fresh tarragon and chervil
Preparation
Pick all bones and skin off the fish meat.
Stir mustard with mayonnaise and yoghurt/sour cream to make a nice dressing
Chop tomatoes, gherkins and herbs and mix with the dressing.
Fold the mackerel in the dressing.
Serve the smoked mackerel salad cold.
If you like smoked mackerel salad you might also want to try:
Vitello tonnato – veal in tuna sauce
Cod with potatoes, squash, capers and anchovies
Baccala and now mackerel! As a mackerel fishermen, I can tell you they become much more strongly flavored as they age. When first caught, they are very mild, and get progressively stronger. Merchants smoke the old ones when they fail to sell. We smoke our own and they are divine. I’ll have a great recipe if you have the will. Best, Mike
Hi Mike,
Now I know why they are sold for next to nothing, and it may have changed my taste for this fish. Still, I’ll definitely try your recipe, if you let it out on apathtolunch:)