‘All too often, the "forgotten skills" have been forgotten for a very good reason, as they bear no relation to the way we live now. Darina Allen's book is an honourable exception. Turn to the "foraging" section and there is this complex recipe combining smoked fish and kelp. This dish is both extravagant and subtle-you'll never view kelp in the same way again'
Kelp and smoked seafood salad
Extract from Darina Allen's Forgotten Skills of Cooking Published by Kyle Cathie Limited in 2009 To serve 6-8
My nephew Ivan Whelan used to serve this lovely salad at his restaurant, Grapefruit Moon, in Ballycotton. If you can't find kelp, try wakame, a Japanese seaweed that can be found in health-food shops. Ingredients
50g (20z) of dried kelp or wakame 150g (5oz) cold-smoked salmon 150g (5oz) smoked eel, weighed after skinning and boning 50g (2oz) pickled ginger (gari) 60g (2 ½oz) pine nuts 3tbsp soy sauce 3tbsp sesame oil 1½tbsp rice wine vinegar Salt and freshly ground pepper 1tbsp freshly chopped coriander 30 smoked mussels
Method
Soak the seaweed in cold water for about 30 minutes to reconstitute. Drain very well in a colander and press out all the excess water. Put into a large mixing bowl.
Cut the smoked salmon and eel into small pieces and chop the ginger. Add these to the seaweed, along with the pine nuts, soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar, coriander and salt and pepper to taste.
Mix gently to avoid breaking up the fish. Serve stacked on a plate with smoked mussels dotted around.
Charles Campion is a food critic. His new book, Eat Up! Seeking out the best of British home cooking, is published by Kyle Cathie at £16.99
