Smoked Mackerel Pate

I love smoked mackerel pate, but it's not exactly one of the most picturesque of foods! My first memory of making it was at the after school cookery club I went to when I was 11. It was one of the first things we made and I have kept the recipe carefully taped into a cookery book every since. The only other thing I remember making in that class is a Christmas cake, complete with marzipan and icing, which was so much fun to make even if I don't actually like eating it!

The mackerel pate recipe from that class calls for cream cheese but in an effort to use what I do have rather than buying more stuff I only had creme fraîche, so I went hunting for a suitable recipe and found this one. The original recipe calls for butter but I didn't have any so I just left it out and the pate still tasted great. I had this in a sandwich with wholemeal bread and lettuce, so not even a photogenic sandwich!

Smoked Mackerel Pate (adapted from BBC Food)

2 whole smoked mackerel
1 tsp freshly grated horseradish
2 tsp Dijon mustard
black pepper
2 tbsp crème fraîche
½ lemon, juice only

Remove the skin from the fish. Add the fish to the blender.

Add the horseradish, mustard, black pepper, crème fraîche and lemon juice and blend to a paste.

Season to taste with salt. Serve.