Recipe – A Taste of Summer

Mackerel / Fennel / Dill

With the start of summer, we’d like to take a moment to look back at one of our favorite dishes from last year: Mackerel served with fennel and a dill sauce.

Find the recipe below the photo.

Ingredients

Fish

• 2 mackerel fillets (250–300g)

Horseradish & Dill Dressing

• 200g buttermilk

• 18g horseradish paste

• 20g fresh dill

• Salt & white pepper, to taste

Garnish

• 1 fennel bulb

• ½ Granny Smith apple

• 10g salty fingers

Preparation

1. Make the Horseradish & Dill Dressing

Finely chop the dill, then mix the horseradish paste into the buttermilk. Stir in the dill and season with salt and white pepper to taste.

Alternatively, you can blend everything with a hand blender for a smoother texture. Let the dressing rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to infuse the flavours.

2. Optional: Brine the Mackerel

To improve the texture and flavor of the fish, we recommend brining:

• Mix 80g salt with 80g sugar.

• In a container, sprinkle some of the mixture at the bottom, place the mackerel fillets on top, and cover them with the remaining mixture.

• Let sit for 20 minutes, then rinse off any excess salt and sugar under cold water and pat the fillets dry..

3. Prepare the Garnish

• Thinly slice the fennel and soak it in cold salted water (3g salt per 100g water) for at least 15 minutes.

• Cut the Granny Smith apple into small cubes – about 0.5 cm.

• Drain the fennel, then combine it with the apple cubes and salty fingers.

4. Cook the Mackerel

You can cook the mackerel in one of the following ways:

• Oven: 8 minutes at 180°C

• Air fryer: 7 minutes at 190°C

• Pan fry: 5–7 minutes, skin side down until crisp

Plating

• Place the fish in the center of the plate.

• Top with the fennel mixture.

• Drizzle the horseradish-dill dressing over the dish.

See the video here to watch how we plated this dish last summer.

Wine Pairing

Last summer, we paired this dish with a German Weißburgunder (Pinot Blanc).