“It may seem obvious,” Peter Armitage writes, “but the thing about fishcakes is that fish has to be the main ingredient. Otherwise they’d be called potato cakes.” That’s seldom the case with the scrawny patties that you will often be presented with, but there’s no mistaking the lovely pink chunks of salmon in his recipe here.

INGREDIENTS

350g waxy potatoes

450g salmon fillets

40g butter

Zest of 1 lemon

1 handful chopped parsley

2tbs flour

1 egg, beaten

2tbs breadcrumbs

Oil for frying

METHOD

1 Put the potatoes on to boil and cook the salmon. I use the microwave, but you could just as well poach it in milk.

2 Crush the potatoes gently with the back of a fork, stirring in the butter at the same time. Don’t overdo it; too smooth a mash is the enemy of a good fishcake.

3 Add the flaked, cooked fish, lemon zest and parsley, season and mix well. Now shape into rounds by packing the mixture into a large biscuit cutter. Chill to help them firm up.

4 Roll the fishcakes in the flour, then dip into the egg and, finally, the breadcrumbs until they are evenly covered.

5 Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the fishcakes for about five minutes on each side until crisp and golden and warmed through.

READERS ON SCONES:

What you said about last week’s recipe exchange

“I was always told that in Cornwall they put cream on first and then jam, and in Devon it’s the other way round. Can there be any truth in it?” H. Roope of Dorset asks. “Sultanas, yes; raisins no,” Celia Linfoot writes. “Sultanas make the scones moist and chewy.” Mary Jones was horrified at the absence of buttermilk. “Everyone knows that’s the secret of fluffy scones.”

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