delicious UK – April 2018

PHOTOGRAPHSDAVID CHARBIT

T

hesmokebillowingfromthekiln
is heavy with the aromas of oak
forests. It’s a scent that’s almost
asancientashumancivilisation,yetas
comfortinglyfamiliarasaposhcooked
breakfast. His head still wreathed in trails
ofsmoke,RichardCookofSevern&Wye
Smokerywheelsatrayofhaddockfresh
fromthekiln.Aftertwo-and-a-halfhours
of smoking the pearly-white flesh has
turnedabeautifulburnishedgoldencolour.
“Whentheycomeouttheyhavealovely
sheenandafirmelasticity.Youknow
whenitfeelsright,”Richardexplainsas
hetalksmethroughtheprocess.Thefresh
(neverfrozen)haddockfillets,whichare
certifiedassustainablebytheMarine
Stewardship Council, are first brined,
thenthefilletsarelaidontometalracks,
putinthekilnandsmokedoveramix
ofoakchipsfromtreesfelledonthe
property and chips from whisky barrels.
Salt,fish,smokeandtimeare the only
ingredients. There are no
artificial dyes used here.
Despiteallthestainless
steel, dials and gauges,
the process of smoking
fishisatitscoreasimple
one and dates back
thousandsofyearsin this
part of the world.
Asitsnamesuggests,
Severn&WyeSmokeryis
located between the two
famous rivers, not far
fromtheForestofDean.
Both rivers are famed for

Severn&WyeSmokerywonadelicious.Produce Award for its outstanding,

sustainable oak-smoked haddock. Susan Low travels to Gloucestershire to discover how

a traditional British ingredient has reclaimed its place as a breakfast of champions

their wild salmon, says Richard. “When

theycompiledtheDomesdayBookof

1086 they recorded the salmon as an asset

fortheSevern.Soitwasahugefishery.”

A SHRINKING RESOURCE

The company was founded on local salmon

andanotherdelicacy–eels.“Initiallywhat

putusherewasthesalmonandtheglass

eels,” Richard recalls, referring to the elvers

(youngeels)thatfrequenttheriver.“But

werealisedwildsalmonwasashrinking

resource.Bythemid-1990syoucouldsee

the salmon fishing community getting

older.Thefishingseasonwasbeingcut,

therewerereducedquotasandhigher

licence fees. It wasn’t going anywhere.”

Richardiskeenonconservationand

knowsthatthechangestothefishery’s

quotas and licence fees have been made

withthebestofintentionsbuttheyforced

hishand.“We’lldoallwecantomaintain

the fisherybutwealsoneedtosurvive

ourselves; so we turned to

farmed salmon, farmed eel...”

Richardandhisteamhave

also smoked haddock for

decadesbutafewyearsback

he realised more could be

done on the sustainability

front. “I felt that the market

forsmokedhaddockwas

becomingaracetothe

bottom.Itwasallabout

‘How can we produce this

cheaply, to meet a certain

price point?’ So we switched

our production to sustainable

sources and practices.” Now, all Severn &

Wye Smokery’s haddock is MSC-certified.

THE TRUTH IS IN THE TASTING

Severn&Wyeuselargefilletsfrommature,

line-caught haddock from Iceland, Norway

andtheFaroeIslands.Oncesmoked,they

have burnished flesh that falls away in large

flakeswhenlightlypoached,withthat

just-sobalanceofoaksmokeandsalt.

Severn & Wye’s smoked haddock is

servedattheSavoy(fittingly,asthechefs

thereinventedomeletteArnoldBennett–

seep28)aswellasTheBerkeley,Bibendum

andRestaurantMartinWishart in

Edinburgh, among others.

Like roast beef, bangers and scones,

smokedfishisadefiningBritishdish–just

imagine how diminished life would be

withoutkippersorkedgeree.Richard

agrees, explaining, “We wanted smoked

haddock to return to what it used to be –

afavouritebreakfastchoiceservedwith

stacksofhotbutteredtoast.”RichardCook’s

smoked haddock is made with so much

loveandcarethatitwillensureitsplaceat

thebreakfasttable–andthelunch,brunch

and dinner table for that matter.→

WHERETOBUY

TheBarnatSevern&Wye(Chaxhill,

Westbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire

GL141QW)sellslocalproduceaswell

asthecompany’ssmokedfish.Youcan

also order on 01452 760191 or at severn

andwye.co.uk (shop coming soon).

Smoked haddock the

way it used to be

16 deliciousmagazine.co.uk