How to make, The Best, Scottish Cullen Skink.

Scottish Cullen Skink is one of my favourite dishes. It is a rich fish soup with leek and potatoes and its name originates from Cullen a small fishing village on the Northeast coast of Scotland. And the term ‘Skink is derived from the Gaelic for ‘essence’ a good description of the aroma of fishy peat smoke coming from the haddock.

You could serve this as a starter, but it’s a hearty soup more suited to a supper main course or Lunchtime treat. If you are in Appin and can’t, be bothered with all the cooking pop into The Pierhouse Hotel (at the pier) for a warming plate full of Skink.

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Pale or Peat smoked Haddock.

To get the very best flavour from the dish look for pale, sometimes called peat smoked haddock. This is fish which has been cured and smoked in the traditional method. Try a good fishmonger to find it. In the supermarkets you are more likely to find its bright yellow cousin which has not had much if any time in the smoker. And has been coated in colour and flavour. If that’s all you can get, it will still work but will not as deeply be flavoured as the real thing. You will just have to travel to Scotland and experience real Skink.

You will need.

• Saucepan, wide not too deep.
• Fine strainer
• Chopping board and knife
• spatula

The Best, Scottish Cullen Skink.

Serves 4

750g               skin on peat smoked haddock fillet, about 600g after trimming.

To make the stock base.

• 450ml             white chicken stock
• 100ml             water
• 70g                 celery stick
• 60g                leek   

Trimming the fish and making the stock.

Take the smoked haddock and remove the skin (it should just pull off with a bit of persuasion) and any bones. Cut the fish into roughly 3cm chunks and set aside. Place the skin bones and any trimmings into a saucepan along with the rest of the ingredients. Bring to the boil then simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour. Pass the stock though a fine strainer and refrigerate until needed. This can be done the day before cooking the Skink.

Cooking the Scottish Cullen Skink.

• 30g                 unsalted butter
• 2                      chopped cloves of garlic
• 1                      chopped shallot
• 100g               1cm diced leek, (white only)
• The stock base, this should be about 500ml.
• 150g               peeled floury potatoes,
• 200ml             double cream
• 200ml             full cream milk
• To Serve.
• Mill Pepper
• 3tbspn            double cream
• 1tbsp              chopped chives

Don’t be tempted to add salt at all until the very end of cooking and then only after tasting. The smoked haddock itself is salty, which should be enough for the whole dish.

Cutting the vegetables.

Give the leek a rinse then cut into two longways. Open out the two halves and slice into strips about 1.5cm wide. Turn the strips around and then slice across to make squares of leek. Finely chop the shallot then slice the garlic into thin slices. Crushing the garlic would make it too strong in the dish.

Cooking the Scottish Cullen Skink.

Add the butter to the saucepan and place over a low heat. When the butter has melted, add the leek, shallots, and garlic. Notice we are not using any onion in this recipe. Onions contain too much sugar and will put a sweet tone into the skink, that we want to avoid. Cook the vegetables for about five minutes and while they are cooking, deal with the potatoes.

Cut the potato into chips with about 1.5cm sides. Slice the chips across approximately 3mm thick to produce little square slices of potato.

Add the potatoes to the pan followed by the stock milk and cream. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 6-8 minutes then add the fish.

Return the pan to the simmer and cook for another 6 minutes stirring occasionally. Don’t worry is the fish and potatoes break up a little, that will thicken the Skink. Add two or three turns of the peppermill and taste.

Serving the Scottish Cullen Skink.

Serve in deep wide plates scattered with chopped chives and plenty of crusty bread to soak up the juices.

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Enjoy Life!

John.