I LOVE THIS PIE
MYMOTHER’S FISH PIE (BUT AN EDIBLE VERSION)
SERVES 8160g unsalted butter, chopped, plus extra 1 tbs to grease
2 garlic cloves, crushed(^1) / 2 cup (75g) plain flour
2 cups(500ml)hotfishstock
1 large (about 1.5kg) celeriac, peeled, cut into 3cm pieces
1cup(250ml)pure(thin)cream
2 bunches dill, roughly chopped
(^1) / 3 cup(80ml)extravirginoliveoil
2leeks,trimmed,cutinto rounds
1 fennel, thinly sliced
300g firm skinless white fish (we used blue-eye trevalla),
cut into 4cm pieces
300gpeeled green prawns, halved
600ghotsmokedtrout,skinremoved, flaked
6hard-boiledeggs,halved
Lemon wedges, to serve
Melt75gbuttercubesandgarlictogetherinasaucepanover
medium-low heat. Add the flour and increase heat to medium-
high. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until light brown and well
combined.Addfishstock,whiskingconstantly, until smooth, then
simmerfor5minutestothicken.
Placeceleriacinasaucepanandcoverwithcoldwater.Bring
to the boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for
25 minutes or until tender. Drain and return to pan over medium-
lowheat. Coarsely mash, then add^1 / 2 cup (125ml) cream and
50gbuttercubes,andmashtoacoarsepuree.Seasontotaste.
Greasea2.5Lbakingdishwithextrabutter.Placehalfthedillin
ablenderandwhiztofinelychop.Addremaining^1 / 2 cup (125ml)
cream and pulse until smooth and combined (do not overmix). Stir
into fish stock mixture, season and set aside.
Heat2tbsoilinafrypanovermediumheatandaddleekand
fennel.Cook,stirringoccasionally,for25minutesoruntilsoftened.
Transfertoabowlandsetasidetocool.Returnpantomedium
heatandheatremaining2tbsoil.Addfishandprawns, and cook,
turning, for 2-3 minutes or until seared all over.
Preheatovento200°C.Addleekmixturetoacleanbowlwith
fishmixture,dillcream,smokedtroutandeggs.Stirtocombine,
then spread into prepared dish. Spoon celeriac mash over top and
dotwithremaining35gbuttercubes.Bakefor50minutesoruntil
golden (cover the top with foil if browning too quickly). Scatter with
salt flakes and remaining dill, and serve with lemon wedges. PHOTOGRAPHY
BEN DEARNLEY
STYLING
KIRSTEN JENKINS
MERCHANDISING
EMMALY STEWART
THIS WAS GOINGtobeacolumnontheplightoffishermenand
thehorrorsoffactorytrawlers.I’dalsoundoubtedlyhavetouched
on that most mealy-mouthed of disingenuous words, “bycatch”. I
wasalsogoingtoincludeanin-depthdiscourseontheageingof
fish,justlikethedryageingJoshNilanddoesinSydneyandthe
various umami-boosting preservation techniques likezuke
(marination)andkelpcuringthatHokkaido-born Masaki Saito
employsathistwo-starinNewYork.
Itwouldhavebeenanallrightcolumn,butattheendoftheday
youprobablyalreadyknowthatdry-ageingfish,ifdoneright,
developsflavoursandmakesforafirmertexture,butifdone
wrongleavesyouwithapastysludge-puddlethatwaftsammonia.
Andmebleatingaboutover-fishingwilldolittlegoodotherthan
helpmakemefeelbetter.Plusit’scertainlynotaproblem that
onecolumncansolve.Itmighttakeacouple...
Butthenmysisterremindedmethatwewerebothvictimsof
aged fish when we were kids, in the form of my mother’s dreaded
andinediblefishpie...andthememories came flooding back in
all their monochrome glory.
Itwasinthosedaysofdodgyrefrigerationandadistribution
system that ensured any fish you bought had been out of the
water for a few days already. Back then, all fish was aged, but not
inagoodway.
Itwasn’tuntilIsmeltfreshfishthathadcomestraightfromthe
waterthatIunderstoodthepleasuresofitsdelicate,whiteflesh
and fresh ozonic fragrance. And it was only then that I realised
howmuch old fish I’d eaten.
So,myearliestfishmemorywasactuallytheviscousstench
ofboiledcoleyforthecatthathungineverycornerofthehouse.
I say “for the cat”, but I now know that part of it ended up in that
dreadedFriday fish pie.
LikeallgoodCatholicfamilies,Fridayswereadayofobservance
andtheworstculinaryoppressionofCatholicism.Mymother’sfish
piewasapenancetobepaidforallthegoodfoodshe’dcookthe
restoftheweek.Thecatwastheonlyoneofthehouseholdwho
always seemed happier on Fridays; enjoying, as cats do, the
sufferingofushavingtoeatwhatshewasforcedtoendureevery
day of the week. I’m sure my mother told us it was cod in the pie,
butthe cat knew better.
This was a drab time of grey suburbs, grey school jumpers and
greydays.Thefishpiefittedrightin.Itwasasymphonyofgrey:
watery grey gravy, grey gelatinous fish and grey mashed potato
from a packet. That was then and this is now. The fish pie here
sharesnothingincommonwithmymother’s,otherthanthe name.
It is fully rehabilitated and now quite distinctly edible.
Acatwithschadenfreude,amalodorousfamilyhome...Matt Preston
leaves a monochrome world behind for the joys of fish as it should be.
@mattscravat
I’M LOVING.
44 delicious.com.au