Throwback Thursday: Old-fashioned haddock pie

A fish pie is an old English tradition with roots as early as the late Victorian era and most likely much earlier. Smoked haddock is arguably the best fish for it, with that lovely smoky flavour imbuing the whole dish.

This recipe was given to me by a friend, whose family have been making it for as long as he remembers. The recipe is very much in line with the official Wikipedia description of a fish pie.

Wikipedia says: “The pie is usually made with fresh and smoked fish (for example cod, haddock, salmon or halibut) or seafood in a white sauce or cheddar cheese sauce made using the milk the fish was poached in. Hard boiled eggs are a common additional ingredient. Parsley or chives are sometimes added to the sauce.

The fish was bought already smoked from the Fisherman Fresh deli in the docks in PE/Gqeberha, thick cutlets painted a magnificent orange by the smoking process. You can also buy frozen haddock, but the quality will not be close to these.

Haddock is among the most popular fish to eat in the United Kingdom, where, along with Atlantic cod and plaice, it is one of the three most popular species for high street fish and chips. (Plaice is fairly closely related to sole and resembles it to a point.) In Scotland, the world-famous Arbroath smokie is prized.

Cook’s Illustrated suggests that an English fish pie was probably created for Lent, making use of fish scraps. Wikipedia notes that John Murrell’s A New Booke of Cookerie (1615) boasted a recipe for pies made of eel or carp “that called for scraps”.

“Jessup Whitehead’s 1889 The Steward’s Handbook and Guide to Party Catering instructs the cook to poach the fish, then drain it and cover in cream before baking,” adds Wikipedia.

Like many baked dishes, there’s a lot of work to do before you get to tuck in, but every step is worthwhile.

Tony’s old-fashioned haddock pie

(Serves 6 to 8)

Ingredients

For the haddock:

250 g smoked haddock per person

1 bay leaf

A few peppercorns

1 onion, sliced

A handful of parsley stalks

1 litre or more full cream milk (enough to cover the fish)

To mix with the poached fish:

2 medium onions, sliced

3 Tbsp butter

1 quantity of cheese sauce (see below)

For the topping:

8 large potatoes, peeled and diced small

Milk and butter to enrich

Salt and white pepper to season

For the béchamel cheese sauce:

The reserved milk (i.e. the reserved poaching stock)

3 Tbsp butter

1 heaped Tbsp flour

2 bay leaves

Salt and white pepper to taste

Plus:

1 cup Cheddar cheese to add to the béchamel sauce

1 cup grated Cheddar for scattering on top of the dish

Parsley, chopped, for garnish

To serve:

Baby peas

Fresh mint

Salt to taste

Method

Boil potatoes in plenty of salted water until soft enough to mash. Drain well. 

Meanwhile, poach the haddock gently in milk until cooked, with a bay leaf, peppercorns, a sliced onion and parsley stalks.

Once cooked, strain and discard the herbs and onions the fish was poached in, and reserve the warm milk.

Flake the haddock into a bowl and discard the skins. 

Fry the additional 2 sliced onions in butter until soft and sweet (these are the onions that will be mixed with the poached fish). Stir now and then so that the onions don’t catch.

Prepare a cheese sauce with the reserved milk that the fish was poached in:

Bring the reserved milk just to a boil with the two bay leaves in it, and immediately turn off the heat. Remove the bay. 

Melt 3 Tbsp butter in a large enough pot (1 litre-plus) and, off the heat, quickly stir in the flour.

On a modest heat, while stirring continuously, add the hot milk a little at a time, stirring until combined and smooth. Cook while stirring on a low bubble for about 15 minutes for the flour to cook out. Season with salt and white pepper.

Turn this into a cheese sauce by stirring in a cup of grated Cheddar until melted and combined.

Grease a suitable deep oven dish. In a bowl, mix together the fish, onions and cheese sauce and pour into the oven dish. 

Mash the potatoes thoroughly. Add butter and milk, taste and adjust seasoning, and heat through before topping the pie.

Carefully lay spoonfuls on top of the haddock until covered, as one would a shepherd’s pie. 

Add a topping of cheese and grill in a preheated 200℃ oven. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and serve with minted baby peas. (Boil them gently in lightly salted water with mint sprigs, until tender. Drain and add a knob of butter, heat through and serve.) DM

Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Writer 2023, jointly with TGIFood columnist Anna Trapido. Order his book, foodSTUFF, here

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.

This dish is photographed on a plate by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.