Cullen Skink

Smoked Haddock Soup

by LEON BOUTEILLER

Why the odd sounding name for a simple soup made with smoked haddock? Many foods are named after the region from which they originated. In this case, the soup’s beginnings were in the town of Cullen, in Moray, near Aberdeenshire in Scotland. Ages ago skink referred to a broth, or an essence made from the shin or knuckle of beef. Over time, the term “skink” became synonymous with soup. In the hard times of the late 1800’s, beef was hard to come by but not smoked haddock. There were many fishing villages along the coast and haddock was a plentiful catch. Smoking was the way to preserve this fish. The predominant soup of that time, for those who had little, was made with smoked haddock or “finnan haddie”. Another term to explain, Finnan is a name that comes from the town of Findon, a fishing village near Aberdeen, Scotland. Haddie, is slang for haddock.

I just returned from a whirlwind tour of Scotland where I had Cullen Skink for the first time. It is a deliciously simple chowder-like soup made with smoked haddock, onion, potato and milk with few or no herbs other than a bay leaf, some parsley or chives as garnish. Maybe some additional leeks or as substitute for onion. Cullen Skink is a national dish and there are competitions to determine who makes the best; much like chili cook offs. There are two categories; one for the simple traditional version, the other for updated recipes using additional ingredients like herbs, spices, other vegetables and wine.

There is no thickening ingredient; partially mash the potatoes after they have softened. Some butter is used to cook the onions and some cream may be added near the end of cooking for a richer result. Purists would decry such an addition but I add light cream at the end or the soup may look separated.

Finnan haddie is expensive these days nor is it easy to find at local fish mongers. I found mine at Guido’s in Great Barrington but it can also be found on line at Stonington Seafood of Maine. Other smoked white fish may be substituted as can hot-smoked salmon.

CULLEN SKINK
4 Serving as a Main Dish

Ingredients:

1 pound smoked haddock
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled or not and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium Spanish onion, or 6-7 inches of a good-sized leek, white and light green part only
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups fish stock, or water
3 cups milk
1 cup light cream
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley or chives for garnish

Method:

Place the smoked haddock in a shallow pan along with the bay leaf. Cover with the milk, and slowly bring to a simmer. Do not boil. Cook for about 5 minutes more on low. Turn off the heat and let cool for a few minutes then remove the bay leaf. Remove the fish from the pan, reserving the milk
When cool enough to handle, remove any skin or bones from the fish and break the flesh into chunks with the aid of a couple of forks. Set aside
Melt the butter over medium heat in a pot big enough to assemble the soup
Chop the onion into dice, or if using the leek, cut it lengthwise in half, wash thoroughly, and cut into 1/4 inch slices
Add the onions or leeks to the pot and cook until translucent and wilted, but do not brown
Add the potatoes to the pot with the fish stock or water and cook until tender
When the potatoes are cooked, lightly mash them with a potato masher, in the pot. No need to be smooth, a little texture from different sized pieces of potato are desirable
At this point, add the reserved milk that the fish was cooked in, and the broken up pieces of smoked haddock to the pot
Warm slowly to a light simmer, do not boil
Swirl in the light cream and season with salt and pepper

Serve this soup with some crusty bread and a lightly dressed garden salad. This soup has a pretty loose directive and a little more or less of any ingredient will hardly affect the outcome. Be careful adding salt until you’ve tasted the soup with all of the ingredients. The smoking process involves salt; no additional salt may be needed.

Enjoy!