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Cornish Fisherman's Stew

Cornish Fisherman's Stew is a traditional English recipe (originating in Cornwall) for a classic stew of less commercial fish in a cider base with onions and mushrooms finished with cream and parsley. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic English version of: Cornish Fisherman's Stew.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

40 minutes

Total Time:

60 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : Wild FoodBritish RecipesEnglish RecipesCornish Recipes

Fish and cider is a great combination and most farms in Cornwall would have made Cider as payment during harvest time from their own orchards. The cider would have been just as cheap as fish caught off the coast or hauled off the fishing boats. The fish would probably have been coalies (coalfish), pollack or whiting (good but less commercially important fish). The use of field mushrooms suggests that this was prepared during August when field mushrooms and horse mushrooms are aplenty. Though it could also be prepared in March using St George's mushrooms.

Ingredients:

560ml (1 pint/2 1/2 cups) dry cider
1 onion or two large shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon butter or oil (or half of each)
115g (4 oz) field mushrooms, sliced
500g (1 lb) white fish, chopped into large pieces
1 tbsp flour
a little double cream, for thickening (optional)
4 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

Pour the cider into a saucepan, bring to a boil and cook until reduced by 1/3 its original volume (about 10 minutes).

Add the oil to a pan set over medium heat. Once hot use to fry the sliced onions for about 5 minutes, or until just soft. At this point add the sliced mushrooms, followed by the fish pieces. Stir gently to coat in the oil then scatter over the flour and stir to incorporate. Pour over the hot cider then season liberally with salt and black pepper.

Scatter over and stir in the parsley then turn the mixture into an oven-proof dish. Transfer to a medium oven and cook, covered, for 20-25 minutes.

Just before serving, if you wish, you can stir in a little cream.

Serve hot with crusty bread.