Smoked Mackerel Pâté with Rye Crackers

Ingredients

• 400 g smoked mackerel fillets, skin removed
• 150 g light cream cheese
• 2 tbsp horseradish sauce
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
• 1 spring onion, finely sliced
• black pepper
• rye crackers or toast, to serve
• cucumber slices, capers, and lemon wedges, to serve
• sourdough bread, sliced, to serve
• pickled beetroot, to serve
• dressed watercress salad, to serve

Method

1. Run your fingers over the mackerel fillets to find any stray pin bones, then pull them out with tweezers or your fingertips. Flake the flesh into rough, generous chunks — no smaller than a thumbnail. You want shards, not paste.
2. In a bowl, beat the cream cheese with the horseradish, lemon zest, and half the lemon juice for about 30 seconds until smooth and loose enough to fold. Cold cream cheese tears the fish — work it until it drops easily off the spoon.
3. Tip in the flaked mackerel and fold gently with a spatula, four or five turns, no more. Keep it chunky and rugged — overworking turns it into fish-flavoured spackle.
4. Scatter in the dill and spring onion. Fold once more, then taste. Add a good crack of black pepper and a pinch of salt — smoked mackerel carries plenty of salt of its own, so go in light and build up. Add more lemon juice until it's bright and punchy on the tongue. Taste again. Adjust now — at the table is too late.
5. Spoon into a serving bowl or four ramekins, dragging the back of the spoon across the top in lazy swirls. Press cling film directly onto the surface and chill for at least 30 minutes — the pâté firms up and the dill and horseradish settle into the fish.
6. To serve, bring the chilled pâté to the table with rye crackers and sourdough, cucumber slices, capers, pickled beetroot, and dressed watercress alongside. Finish with lemon wedges for squeezing over each loaded cracker — that final squeeze of lemon cuts the richness of the smoke.