Plokkfiskur

Mashed Fish

In former times, fish and potatoes had been a kind of basic foodstuffs in Iceland. Both were widely available and inexpensive. Hence in many families both, potatoes and fish, were served several times a week. And also the leftovers had not been thrown away. Instead of this, they were mashed and mixed together. The result was "plokkfiskur". Today it's usually not made from leftovers, but from fresh fish. But it is still a very common, typically Icelandic food - and very tasty, by the way.

Ingredients

500 g boiled haddock
500 g boiled potatoes
1 onion
350 ml milk
50 g butter
3 Tbsp flour
white pepper
salt
50 g grated cheese

Preparation

Split the fish into small flakes. Cut the boiled potatoes into small pieces, too. Chop the onion.

In a small pan heat up the milk slowly.

In another pan melt butter and steam the chopped onion glassy. Add the flour and bring to the boil for about a minute. Then slowly pour in the heated milk while stirring continuously. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Put the pieces of fish and potatoes into an ovenproof dish and mix them.

Pour the sauce over it and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Bake everything in the oven at 200 °C for about 20 minutes.

Then serve the plokkfiskur - maybe with some boiled potatoes, fresh tomatoes and a slice of dark rye bread with salted butter.

Even if such a mash might not be very impressive in look, it is really wonderful in taste!