Plate 06 of 10

Falklands Fish Pie

The Stanley standby, a pie of the day's white fish under mash. Mixed firm fillets poached gently in milk and lifted out, the milk kept for a sauce built on softened leeks, butter and flour, the fish and peas folded through it, and everything covered with a firm buttery mash and grated cheddar. Baked at 200 °C until bubbling and browned, and rested ten minutes.

Prep: 35 min
Cook: 50 min
Serves: 6
Difficulty: Medium

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

A round dish of fish pie with a ridged golden mash topping, one portion served on a plate showing chunks of white fish and peas in a creamy sauce.

Fish pie is what a Stanley kitchen makes on a Friday, when the boats are in and the weather is not. White fish is poached in milk, folded into a leek sauce with peas, and buried under mashed potato and cheese, then baked until the top is brown and the edges bubble.

It is British comfort cooking at the far end of the Atlantic, made with a fish supply most British kitchens would envy.

Ingredients

Fish and sauce
900 gMixed firm white fish fillets, skinned, in 4 cm pieces
500 mlMilk
2Leeks, washed and sliced
30 gButter
50 gFlour
150 gPeas, frozen
5 gFine salt
2 gWhite pepper
1 pinchNutmeg, grated
Topping
1 kgFloury potatoes, peeled and quartered
30 gButter
3 gFine salt
100 gCheddar, grated

Poach first

The fish is poached before it goes into the pie, so it is barely cooked when the pie goes into the oven and not overcooked when it comes out. The poaching milk carries its flavour into the sauce.

A firm mash

The mash is a lid, and it has to bear its own weight. Less butter and no milk keeps it stiff enough to spread over the filling and hold a fork's ridges.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is in the sauce and the mash. Fat is butter and cheese. Acid is a squeeze of lemon at the table. Heat is white pepper. Umami is fish poached in milk and browned cheddar.

Equipment

Wide saucepan, for poaching
Large pot and a masher, for the potatoes
2-litre oval or round baking dish
Fork, for the ridges

Any dish that holds two litres. A wide one gives more crust, which is the best part.

Method

Poach the fish8 min
Put the fish in the wide saucepan with the milk, bring to a bare simmer and poach 4 to 5 minutes until just opaque. Lift the fish onto a plate with a slotted spoon and keep the milk.
Put the fish in the wide saucepan with the milk, bring to a bare simmer and poach 4 to 5 minutes until just opaque. Lift the fish onto a plate with a slotted spoon and keep the milk.
Mash25 min
Boil the potatoes in salted water 20 minutes until tender. Drain, steam dry 2 minutes, and mash with the butter and salt to a firm mash.
Boil the potatoes in salted water 20 minutes until tender. Drain, steam dry 2 minutes, and mash with the butter and salt to a firm mash.
The sauce10 min
Melt the butter in the emptied saucepan, soften the leeks 5 minutes, stir in the flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in the poaching milk gradually and simmer 3 minutes until thick. Season with the salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Melt the butter in the emptied saucepan, soften the leeks 5 minutes, stir in the flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in the poaching milk gradually and simmer 3 minutes until thick. Season with the salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Assemble8 min
Heat the oven to 200 °C. Fold the fish and peas gently into the sauce and spread in the dish. Spoon the mash over in dollops, then spread to cover completely, sealing at the edges, and drag a fork across the top. Scatter the cheese over.
Heat oven to 200 °C. Gently fold fish and peas into sauce; spread in the dish. Dollop mash over, spread to seal the edges, ridge with a fork and scatter cheese on top.
Bake30 min
Bake 25 to 30 minutes until the top is browned and the sauce bubbles at the edges, 75 °C at the centre.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes until the top is browned and the sauce bubbles at the edges, 75 °C at the centre.
Rest10 min
Rest 10 minutes so the sauce thickens enough to serve in slices.
Rest 10 minutes so the sauce thickens enough to serve in slices.
07
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: ridges of mash browned at their peaks, sauce bubbling up at the rim; inside, white flakes in a pale sauce with green peas.
- Auditory: a steady bubble at the edges of the dish.
- Olfactory: browned cheese and butter, then leek and poached fish.
Check for browned mash ridges and sauce bubbling steadily around the rim. Inside, fish should flake white in pale sauce with green peas; expect browned cheese, butter, leek and fish aromas.

Storing it

Keeps 2 days refrigerated; reheat covered at 180 °C for 25 minutes, to 74 °C inside. It can be assembled a day ahead, unbaked, and baked from cold with 10 minutes more.

Troubleshooting

Watery sauce.: The fish let out liquid, or the sauce was thin. Poach first and drain the fish well; simmer the sauce until it coats a spoon.
Mash sank into the filling.: Too soft, or the filling was hot. Firm mash, cooled filling, dollops first.
Fish in shreds.: Overcooked, or stirred hard. Poach barely and fold once.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
White fish	A third smoked haddock, or some salmon	Smoked fish adds salt; reduce it in the sauce
Leeks	One onion, finely chopped	Sharper; cook it a little longer
Cheddar	Any hard grating cheese, or breadcrumbs	Crumbs give crunch without the richness

Scaling

Half

A 1-litre dish, 20 minutes in the oven.

Double

Two dishes; one huge dish takes too long to heat through.

What to serve it with

Buttered peas or carrots, if the pie has not enough
A wedge of lemon
A pot of tea or a glass of white

Questions

Which fish?

Whatever the boats brought in: on the islands, hake, mullet and toothfish trimmings. Cod, haddock and pollock at home.

Can I use pastry instead of mash?

That makes a different pie. Mash is the Falklands version, and the British one.

Why rest it?

Straight from the oven the sauce is thin and the pie floods the plate. Ten minutes lets it set.