Fish pie, Welsh stylie...

On a recent tour, our quintet was in Wales. As it is near the ocean, my good friend Kristina decided some fish pie would be delicious. I went for some Cawl, Welsh lamb and leek stew and Dave had some suet pudding with beef and onions (he had wanted a light meal, I'm glad he didn't want something heavy, I don't know what he could have been satisfied by!!) When the fish pie arrived, it was lovely with mashed potatoes covered in melted cheese, gorgeous! But the fork went in and out came... bones. Then more bones, then a fish head, followed by an eyeball. some strange black stringy things, spine with part of the tail.... Kristina tried eating it, thinking it was the Welsh style of fish pie, but in the end she was defeated. So I took the pie back to the counter for her. The conversation was...
Me: Excuse me, but my friend couldn't really eat this.... (pointing to the head and the one eyeball we had found)
Barman: Oh my god! I am so sorry!! (looks pale, then bursts into hysterical laughter at what looks like a slaughter on the plate)
Me: Thats fine, things happen- we thought maybe this was Welsh style fish pie?
Barman: (when he stops laughing) um, no
Me: Only thing is, she's kind of gone off fish pie at this point... (He starts laughing again) Could we have some dessert instead?
Barman: For that, you can have 3!

So we got Apple and Rhubarb Custard Tart, Cheesecake, and Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Real Fish Pie
1 small onion, halved
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
600 ml (1 pint) milk - this means 1 1/4 cups, Americans!
300 ml (10 fl oz) double cream- and this means 3/4 of a cup
450 g (1 lb) cod fillet
225 g (8 oz) undyed smoked haddock
300 g (9 oz) peeled prawns (shrimp), cooked
100 g (4 oz) butter
45 g ( 1 3/4 oz) plain flour- sorry, I bought a scale so I can't tell you this in measures!
5 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1.25 kilos (2 1/2 pounds) peeled floury potatoes (like Maris Piper or baking potatoes in the US)
sea salt and freshly ground white pepper

Stud the onion halves with the cloves. Put the onion in a large pan with the bay leaf, 450 ml (15 fluid oz) of the milk, the cream, cod and smoked fish. Bring just to the boil and simmer until just cooked through. Strain the fish and let cool on a platter. Strain the liquid into a pitcher. When the fish is cool enough, flake it into large chunks into a large casserole, mix through the prawns (shrimp).

Make a white sauce with 1/2 the butter, the flour and the strained cooking liquid, reserving 1/2 a cup of the liquid. This means, melt the butter over medium, slowly add in the flour blending the two together completely after each new sprinkling of flour into the pan. When the paste is very thick, add the liquid bit by bit, incorporating it completely between each addition or it will become lumpy. Let it cook long enough to take away the raw taste of the flour and to thicken it. Remove from the heat and add in the parsley, salt and white pepper and taste for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the fish and let cool while you make your potatoes.

Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain, mash and add the rest of the butter with the rest of the cooking liquid and enough additional milk to make a soft mash. You can also add a bit of cheese into the potatoes or grated on top, if you like.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F. Spread the potato over the fish evening the thickness and leaving peaks in the mash as these will turn toasty brown and lovely! Bake about 40 minutes.

Optional: you can slice some mushrooms and fry them with a finely chopped onion in the butter for the white sauce, then create the sauce around the vegetables and continue as stated.

One last mention about the story, we were drinking Brains, the Welsh national beer, but I preferred the Double Dragon while Kristina liked the Celtic Gold. Give them a go!

Next time, Sticky Toffee Pudding