(serves 4)

Half head Celery
1 Bulb Fennel
1 Med Onion
1 Med Potato
2 oz. Butter
1 lb Cod
Salt and Pepper

Chop the celery and fennel into chunks, peel the onion and potato, and chop roughly and put these in a saucepan with the butter over a gentle heat.
Cover well with a lid and let them sweat together until soft.
Check and stir the pot from time to time to make sure it isn’t sticking.
Cover the cod with water in a pan and bring to a simmer.
Simmer for 5 mts then take out the fish and flake it off the bone.
Keep any skin and put that back into the pan of poaching water.
Boil this hard for another 5 mts. and then strain over the sweated vegetables.
Bring this back to the boil and season.
Liquidise and then push through a sieve (not essential but both celery and fennel can be quite stringy).
To serve divide the flaked fish between 4 hot soup plates.
Ladel over the hot soup, and sprinkle over a little chopped fennel green (saved from the bulb).
This is a delicate and subtle soup, a fish soup for people who think they don’t like fish soup.