Caxton magazines staffThere’s no need to bring a bottle when Andrew and Rozy Gunn of Iona Vineyards (iona.co.za) invite you over for a meal
INGREDIENTS
For the salmon fish cakes:
- 650g salmon fillet, poached in fish stock
- 650g dry mashed potato, no milk or butter added
- 1 egg, beaten
- 30ml tomato sauce
- 10ml anchovy essence or Thai fish sauce
- 15ml English mustard
- salt and white pepper, to taste
- flour, for dusting
- sunflower oil, for frying
For the sorrel sauce:
- 50g butter
- 30g cake flour
- 500ml strong fish stock, kept hot
- 50ml dry white wine
- 250ml thick cream
- 15g fresh sorrel, shredded
- salt and white pepper, to taste
To serve:
- 1,5kg spinach, sorted, washed and dried
- fresh sprigs of dill
METHOD
1. To make the fishcakes: flake the salmon and mix with the mashed potato, egg, tomato sauce, anchovy essence (or fish sauce), mustard and seasoning. On a chopping board dusted with flour, mould the mixture into 8 large fishcakes and then refrigerate them.
2. To make the sorrel sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour, stir and slowly whisk in the hot stock. Pour in the white wine and simmer for 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Add the cream and reduce the sauce until it has a thick, pouring consistency, then stir in the sorrel and season to taste with the salt and pepper.
3. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Heat some sunflower oil in a frying pan and fry the fishcakes in batches until they’re nicely browned. Place the fishcakes on a large baking tray and bake for 10–15 minutes. (They should be crunchy on the outside and sizzling hot.)
4. To assemble the dish: wilt the spinach, including the stalks, in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 3–4 minutes and then drain it in a colander. Place a spinach leaf or two on a warm serving plate, top with a fishcake and pour the sorrel sauce over the top. Garnish with the dill.
Cook’s note: As the fish cakes are first fried and then baked just before serving, you can do all the preparation ahead of time, heating the sorrel sauce and wilting the spinach at the last minute. You can substitute the salmon for Franschhoek trout fillets, which are a more cost-effective option, but don’t use any other white fish or you’ll lose the ‘luxury factor’.
This recipe serves 8 as a main course.
