It is funny how, like fashions in clothes, food fashions come around again.
Both Fisherman’s Pie and Shepherd’s Pie, staples of my youth about 50 years ago, seem to be having another burst of popularity, or maybe it is just that they never went away.

They have a lot to recommend them, there is no last minute fiddling and they are the ultimate comfort food, warm, soothing, easy to eat and with just the right touch of nostalgia.

Last Saturday I was faced with a dinner party dilemma.
We were going to be five for dinner and the entire party (including the host and hostess) were going off on a trip to Lismore in the afternoon.
Ideally I should be able to pop in the door at 6.30 with the guests and then have the dinner on the table in about 45 minutes.
This called for planning of a high order.
First course, soup, no bother just re-heat and serve.
Vegetables, no problem , just cook in advance and then microwave at the last moment.(I have no problems with using a microwave)
Dessert, again no problem, just something cold.

It struck me that a fishermans pie would be just perfect for the main course.
Put into the oven before the soup it would emerge golden brown and sizzling at the right moment.
It just didn’t seem festive enough to be serving nursery food at a dinner party.
Then I got a notion.
What if I substituted a cheese souffle for the mashed potato topping.
This would surely transform the mundane into something a little exotic.
I think it worked well.
Be sure and have a dish which will take all the fish pie ingredients and leave space for the souffle to rise.

Fisherman’s Souffle Pie
(feeds a generous 6)

Pie Filling;
450g (1 lb.) Salmon fillet
450g (1 lb.) Undyed Smoked Haddock
900g (2 lbs) Mussels
90g (3 oz.) Butter
90g (3 oz.) Flour
600ml (1 pt.) Milk
600ml (1 pt.) Water

Souffle topping;
90g(3 oz.) Butter
90g (3oz.) Flour.
110g (4 oz.) Mature Cheddar
4 Eggs
450ml (¾ pt.) Milk

Pie Filling:
Tip the mussels into a sink and rinse off any sand.
Put them into a pan with a cup of water and put them on the heat, covered with a lid.
Keep these on the heat until all the shells are open.
Tip them into a large bowl and discard the shells and take off the beards (any pieces of weed or fibre which the mussels attach themselves to rocks)
Put the mussels to one side and strain and keep the liquid from the pan.

In a large flat pan cover the salmon and the haddock with the milk and water and bring up to a gentle boil.
Simmer for about 5 mts then take out of the liquid and put to cool on a board.
Once the fish are cool enough to handle remove all the skin and bones and break into large flakes.
Put the fish and the mussels into a large ovenproof dish (something like a roasting tin would work well)
Melt the butter in a pan and then stir in the flour, add in the liquid from the mussels and then add sufficient of the liquid in which the fish were cooked to make a bechemal like sauce. Pour this over the fish in the dish and put somewhere cool to set.

Souffle Topping:

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour and then the milk to make a thick sauce.
Grate and stir in the cheese.
Separate the eggs and whip the whites until light and thick (an electric beater makes this easier)
Beast the yolks into the cheese sauce and then fold in one tablespoon of the whipped whites to lighten the mixture.
Then fold in the remainder of the whites.
Spoon this mixture on top of the fish in the dish, smooth over the top and put into a moderately hot oven, Gas 5, 190C, 375F. for about 50 mts.

This dish is so hearty that it doesn’t really need potatoes and it goes well with a sweet vegetable like leeks which you have chopped and cooked slowly in butter or with crisp boiled broccoli.

This is NOT the above but a Cheese Souffle I made
last month in France.
It did rise well though and deserved another airing.