Smoked snoek pate
Snoek pate is really a favourite of mine that I make whenever I am in the Cape. This is a really easy smoked fish pate recipe that works well with smoked trout or snoek. Don’t confuse smoked snoek with the dried and smoked version, you want a freshly smoked snoek that still has some moisture in it, it is not a stiff pate but an easy spreading pate.
What you need
250g smoke fish
2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons full fat double cream
Ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
The process
Remove the skin and flake the fish making sure there are no bones.
Add the fish and the butter to a blender and give it a quick blitz until combined and fairly smooth.
Now add the olive oil and lemon juice and blitz again for a few seconds to combine, it should be light and creamy at this stage.
Add the cream and give it another qfew seconds of blitzing to combine. Taste and season with cayenne pepper and black pepper. You may also want to add a little more lemon juice.
Place in a bowl, chill and serve with fresh finely chopped chives or parsley and crisp toast, brown bread or pita bread. Yuuuummmmy.
Alternatives: To make something really fancy, make the pate with smoked trout and then line little domes with smoked salmon (rub the inside of the dome with a little oil first), fill with the pate and pop into the fridge to set for a few hours, then turn them out. Simple and decadent.
We caught 5 trouts this weekend in Dullstroom. They are now in the freezer. Do you know a place that will smoke it for me, or do you maybe have an alternative way to cook the trout without “smoking” them.
Hi Annelize, smoking is the best way to have trout in my mind! Not sure about in JHB but you can buy inexpensive smokers from almost any camping shop or butcher or try a good deli, they may be able to put you onto someone. Well done on your catch and Merry Xmas to you and yours, G
Hi,
I will be making this as a starter for Christmas lunch. I bought some lightly smoked snoek at Woolies, but I am not sure if I should cook it first before making the pate. And if I have to cook it, how? Just boil in water or milk, or grill it in the oven???
Hi Yvette, the smoked snoek from woolies will not need cooking but for future reference you just poach it in milk (place about an inch of milk in a pan, bring to a slow simmer snd place the lid on for a few minutes. You will know its cooked when the fish flakes easily) have a fabulous Xmas G