A SCOTTISH TRADITION ...CULLEN SKINK

Cullen skink is a famous,traditional soup that is made with smoked haddock. The name of the soup comes from Cullen, a small town in the northeast of Scotland. Skink is a Scottish term for a knuckle or a hough of beef, but in hard economic times when people could not find scraps of beef, they used fish which was easier to come by and smoked haddock could be found easily ....so meat based stews transformed into fish based soups and the name skink remained. I spent 15 wonderful years learning the basics of cooking from a wonderful, generous home cook, Jessie Mersey .. never forgotten. Ok, melt 25 gm of marg / butter in a large pan, add 1 onion, peeled and chopped, saute for 3 minutes, stirring continuously. Add 1 bay leaf and sprinkle 25 gm of plain flour and cook over a low heat for 2 minutes ... continuing to stir. Add 500gm of potatoes 'all rounders', scrubbed and cubed. Now remove the pan from the heat, stir in 900ml of milk. Return the pot to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring. Reduce the heat and simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add 350 gm of skinned and smoked haddock fillet sliced into small pieces. Now add 75 gm of sweet corn kernels and 50 gm of baby peas. Cover and cook gently, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or until the vegetables and fish are cooked. Add cracked pepper to taste and 1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg. Now stir in 3 tbs of cream and gently heat until piping hot. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with really crusty torn bread.