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Strain off the liquid. You need a little under 1 litre (32 fl oz). If there is too much, boil it down. Blend or process most of the rice with the liquid. Aim for a smooth texture with a light agreeable graininess on the tongue: with some processors, you may feel the need to put the soup through a fine sieve afterwards.

Put the soup back into the rinsed out pan, with the last of the rice, the flakes of cooked salmon and seasoning to taste. Reheat to a bare simmer and serve with sprigs of chervil, or the sorrel leaves rolled up and cut across so that they fall into a chiffonade of ribbons which will cook instantly in the heat of the soup.

SALMON MOUSSE

Serves 6

250 g (8 oz) cooked salmon, free of skin and bone

5 tablespoons good fish or beef stock, very hot

15 g (½ oz) gelatine

2 teaspoons wine vinegar or lemon juice

1 tablespoon brandy, dry sherry or dry vermouth

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

salt, pepper, cayenne

300 ml (10 fl oz) crème fraîche or whipping cream

2 egg whites

Flake the salmon. In a liquidizer or processor, whizz the hot stock and gelatine, then add the fish gradually, plus the various liquids, cheese and seasonings to taste. Whip the cream until stiff and fold in the salmon mixture. Put in a cool place until almost set, but just loose enough to stir. Taste again for seasoning. Beat the whites to soft peaks and fold into the salmon. Turn into a soufflé dish. Serve with a cucumber salad.

VARIATIONS A proportion of smoked salmon can be substituted for up to half of the cooked salmon – a good way to make use of the cheap bits and pieces left over from slicing a side.

SALMON SOUFFLÉ

Since I’ve adopted the system of baking soufflés in a shallow dish – which I learned from Alice Waters – I make them much more often. They have an open golden bubbly look, and the inside is creamy enough to provide its own sauce. Another thing she taught me is not to be afraid of using quite a lot of cheese to make the general flavour much more savoury.

Serves 6

250 g (8 oz) cooked salmon, free of bone and skin

salt, pepper

125 g (4 oz) butter

5 tablespoons plain flour

300 ml (10 fl oz) each single cream and milk, heated together

cayenne, ground mace

1 tablespoon tomato concentrate (optional)

5 egg yolks

60 g (2 oz) Gruyère or Gouda, grated

60 g (2 oz) Parmesan, grated

6 egg whites

Flake the salmon, breaking it up as much as possible, and season it. Use a quarter of the butter to grease a shallow oval gratin dish, at least 30 cm (12 inches) long.

Melt the rest of the butter, stir in the flour to make a roux. Then moisten gradually with the cream and milk. Add salt, pepper, cayenne and mace. Simmer half-covered for at least half an hour, stirring occasionally: this can be done in a bain-marie for an hour with even better results. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the salmon and tomato, if used, and then the egg yolks when the mixture has cooled down a little. Add the Gruyère or Gouda and about half the Parmesan. Taste and adjust the seasoning, bearing in mind the softening effect the whites will have.

Beat the whites until stiff, mix a good tablespoon into the salmon mixture to slacken it, then fold in the rest. Spread into the buttered dish lightly and evenly. Scatter with the remaining Parmesan.

Bake in the oven preheated to gas 8, 230°C (450°F), on the top shelf, for 12 to 15 minutes, or until nicely browned on top but still a little wobbly underneath the crust in the centre.

SALMON STEAKS IN CREAM

I owe this deliciously simple recipe to Mrs Charlotte Sawyer, of Woodsville, New Hampshire. It could equally well be used for cod steaks, or slices of angler-fish, or porbeagle (Blue Dod, as it is sometimes called in North America); but it is particularly good for the dryness of salmon. The ingredients may sound expensive, but they aren’t really as they include the sauce for the fish. Some new potatoes are all that is needed to accompany the salmon.