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In a Nostalgic Moment

Kipper Pâté

Kippers have proved a resilient food. Despite their strong

taste and even stronger aroma, those of us who love them

have managed to keep them going. They are still made on

the Norfolk and Northumberland coasts, the Isle of Man

and at various other sites dotted around the British coast.

There is no better breakfast and, like Bertie Wooster, one

is inclined to think they are good for the brain.

Given that they are still plentiful, it is surprising how

clandestine the business of getting a whole kipper can be.

Everywhere, if offered kipper, one is given fillet. Good

hotels will generally offer them, but the true devotee will

know the overwhelming thud of disappointment when

served a couple of miserable little fillets because someone

thinks we cannot be trusted with a whole kipper.

Buying kippers for this recipe occasioned a visit to a

fishmonger who had none. The biggest local supermarket

only sold fillets in a vacuum-packed bag, with butter

thoughtfully provided. The next supermarket had fillets on

ice. I asked, despairingly, about the availability of whole

kippers. The young man appraised me, winked,

disappeared to a cold room and returned with a small box

from which he produced two fine specimens. I felt like a

thirsty man in prohibition-era America who had procured

a bottle of proper proprietary gin. I almost kissed him.

There are two reasons for making a fuss. A kipper

cooked on the bone has a great deal more succulence,

as fillets shrink and dry easily without the bone. Just as

important, fillets are cut away from the main backbone

with the result that, paradoxically, a fillet is full of the tiny

bones, which can be lifted away when cooked on the bone.

Even with a whole kipper, getting rid of these little

bones takes care but is essential, whether you are

philosophically probing your specimen over a leisurely

weekend breakfast or making a kipper pâté. In a nostalgic

moment, and in tune with my penchant for reviving

forgotten dishes, I decided to put kipper pâté on the menu

when we opened Le Cafe Anglais (2007), mainly because

I was serving kippers and thought it would be a prudent

economy to process them every couple of days to preserve

them. Now I buy kippers just to make the pâté, since what

started as a whim has become a stalwart and a good

number of my customers would be reluctant to go without.

17

January