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array, to an outsider at least. They are likely to be interspersed with plastic tubs. Customers come along quite briskly all the same. The fishmonger wraps the chosen collapsible in foil, presumably for reheating, and hands over a plastic tub as well. Everyone seems happy. Try this recipe and you will see why. Having a processor is the secret.

Serves 4–6

375 g (12 oz) cod fillet

130 g (generous 4 oz) butter, softened

2 large egg yolks

2 level tablespoons plain flour

150 ml (5 fl oz) double cream

150 ml (5 fl oz) milk

1½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon sugar

pepper

2 large egg whites

extra butter, for greasing the mould

2–3 tablespoons fine breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Scrape the fish from the skin, removing any bones. Process with the butter, yolks, flour, cream and milk and the seasoning, gradually and in batches if necessary. Whisk the whites in a bowl and fold in the fish mixture. Taste for seasoning.

Grease a 1¼ litre (2 pt) kugelhupf pottery or metal ring mould with butter. Mix crumbs and parsley and shake them about in the mould to coat it. Tip out any surplus.

Put in the fish mixture, cover with buttered paper and steam or cook in a bain-marie in a moderate oven, preheated to gas 4, 180° (350°F) for an hour or until firm to the touch. Ease with a knife, turn out on to a hot dish and serve with shrimp or prawn sauce, p. 281 – that is what the plastic pots contained in the Stockholm market.

POACHED CODLING WITH OYSTER SAUCE AND MELTED BUTTER

Here’s English cooking for you and, if well done, it is very well worth eating. Do not jib at the quantity of salt: if the fish is whole, you will find it agreeably seasoned and no more, just as you do when baking a whole fish or whole chicken in a mound of sea salt (p. 367). Oyster sauce is a special treat with chicken and turkey, as well as with white fish of firm quality.

Serves 6

1½ kg (3 lb) codling, cleaned

coarse sea or rock salt

sprigs of parsley

small new potatoes, boiled

SAUCE

24 large or 36 medium oysters, opened

60 g (2 oz) butter, softened

2 teaspoons plain flour

cream

cayenne pepper

BUTTER

250 g (8 oz) unsalted or lightly salted butter, cut in dice

Start with the sauce. Tip the oysters with their juice into a bowl. Swish each oyster about in the liquor to get rid of bits of shell and put it into a small pan. Strain the liquor over them, through a cloth. Bring to simmering point and hold them there until they look plump. Remove immediately and strain off the liquor into a measuring jug. Mash the butter and flour together and put into the top pan of a double-boiler. Add enough cream to the oyster liquor to bring it up to 300 ml (10 fl oz), and add a pinch of cayenne. Leave near the stove for last-minute cooking.

For the melted butter, bring the diced butter to boiling point in a small pan. Let it bubble briefly, then leave for the sediment to settle. Pour off into a small jug, for later reheating.

To poach the cod, lay it on the strainer tray of the fish kettle. Pour over enough water to cover it properly, measuring as you go. Stir in enough sea salt to make a brine, allowing 90 g to every 2½ litres of water (or 3 oz to 2½ pt). Bring up to a rolling boil, standing the kettle over two burners, then immediately lower the heat so that the water barely trembles. Poach the fish for 10–15 minutes, keeping it submerged by laying a dish on top. Test after 10 minutes by giving the first dorsal fin a little tug: if it comes out easily, the fish is done. Remove it to a hot serving dish and keep warm while you complete the oyster sauce.

Have the lower part of the double-boiler half full of boiled water. Pour the oyster and cream mixture into the top part and set it in place. Stir steadily until the sauce thickens: it should become very hot, but not boil. Stir in the oysters and give them a few moments to heat through, without further cooking. Remove and pour into a hot jug. Stand the little jug of melted butter in the double-boiler