Kipper Pate is so versatile and so quick to make, you should double, triple the recipe and freeze it for days when you don’t feel like cooking. On days like these, buy a fresh, crusty loaf of bread, a few pickles and cheese and take out a tub of kipper paté – a feast awaits your family and you will be the hero for the day.

Kipper Pate is my modern take on a British tradition, because kippers were the quintessential British breakfast food. Traditionally the whole butterflied kipper is poached and eaten with greens and a poached egg on top. Kippers are packed with omega 3 vitamins and the smoky deliciousness reminds of bacon and eggs for breakfast. Yet, it is a very inexpensive alternative to salmon or trout,  often enjoyed at breakfast.

A kipper is a whole herring, a small, oily fish. It has been split in a butterfly fashion from tail to head along the dorsal ridge, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold-smoked over smouldering wood chips.

Kipper Pate 

Serve 6 – as part of breakfast/ 8-10 as a spread with crackers

Ingredients

250g pack smoked kippers 

15 ml butter

15 ml water

250 g cream cheese

1 spring onion, finely sliced green and white finely chopped

1 small lemon zest and juice

10g fresh dill – finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Melt the butter and water in a pan. Remove the kippers from the packaging and place in the pan. Cover with a lid and cook for about 5 min. Remove the fish from the pan and discard the skin and any bones from the kippers. Cool the fish to room temperature.

Place the fish, cream cheese, lemon zest and juice, spring onion and fennel in a food processor. Pulse until combined, but I prefer a coarser texture. Choice is yours. 

To serve

Spread the pate on 6 slices of wholewheat bread. Poach 6 eggs and serve on the bread with fresh dill and basil.

HOW TO MAKE POACHED EGGS 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then reduce to low. I prefer to turn the heat off.

Crack the egg in a small ramekin or bowl.

Add one tablespoon of white vinegar to the pot and stir to create a vortex.

Using the ramekin to gently pour the egg into the middle of the vortex and set a timer for 3 minutes.

Once the 3 min are up, use a slotted spoon to remove the poached egg. Dab with a paper towel to remove excess water and eat immediately.