Kedgeree

A few weeks ago as I was doing a bit of research on some recipes for a magazine, I went through a bit of a rabbit whole. It started with idea of trying to find and cook the earliest recorded recipe for a popular English breakfast dish - the Kedgeree. As it turned out it doesn’t come from England at all but from Scotland. The first kedgeree recipe has been written down by a Scottish housewife called Stephana Malcom in her recipe notebook which she began writing in 1790.

Mince into very small pieces a large cold boiled Haddock or bit of cod, Haddock is best, add to it 4 hard boiled Eggs also minced, boil a large Tea Cup full of Rice, drain & dry it nicely, melt in a stew Pan a piece of butter the size of an Egg, make the Mince very hot in it, mixing with it very lightly the Rice, season with salt and a little Cayenne Pepper, & serve very hot, heaped very lightly on a dish.

She spent most of her life in southern part of rural Scotland, however her brothers served in the British army and at one point they were stationed in India. It is believed the Brits there came across a local dish called khichdi (or khichri). It is a simple dish most often made from rice, lentils and a few spices and as far as I have read is even popular today, particularly among people with … let’s just say whisky and beer headaches. It is not hard to imagine that the recipe changed over time to suit more to British taste. While nowadays curry powder is a quintessential part of kedgeree, Mrs Malcom spiced it only with cayenne pepper. Her rice and fish was freshly prepared with no mention of smoked fish. By the Victorian times kedgeree rose to its heyday as a staple breakfast dish for the middle and upper classes and was reinvented by the thrifty housewives who often made it with leftovers. Particularly useful side of the art of cooking which would be most beneficial to some modern cooks.

Along with kedgeree Mrs Malcom has recipes for mulligatawny soup, Indian pickle and curry powder. Some of which I will attempt making if I can decipher her handwriting. But for now, here is the recipe and some notes on it.

A note on the resources
- Stephanas Malcoms recipe notebook can be found and downloaded for free here on the National Library of Scotland website. The recipe is on page 69.
- Felicitys Cloaks article on kedgeree for The Guardian.
- Alexanders Lee article on kedgeree for History Today.

A note on the ingredients
As I can’t get some of the called ingredients, I took liberties with the recipe and added and combined things from the both worlds. Lemon and parsley from the English Victorian side and chillies and spices from the Indian. A modern recipe with historic roots if you like. I wonder does #historybounding apply for historical recipes as well as fashion?

Currently I live in Perth, Australia and while we have a good choice of fresh seafood available here same can’t be said about smoked seafood. Smoked white fish here is almost non-existent, the only one I have found is smoked haddock that is sold defrosted, has some sort of a orange dye on top and comes from South Africa. That is what I used when I took the photo above however I have also made it with smoked salmon and liked it much better.

Kedgeree

makes 4 portions

250 grams basmati rice, rinsed and soaked in a bowl of water for at least an hour
250 grams smoked fish (see note above)
500 ml milk
bay leaf
butter for cooking
2 red chillies, or to taste
1 large red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
salt & pepper
juice of lemon, to taste
large handful parsley, finely chopped

for serving
4 hard boiled eggs or boiled to your liking
mango chutney or sour cream or both
lemon wedges

In a pot on medium heat boil water, add rice and boil 5 - 7 minutes or until they are done. Alternatively cook them with your preferred method. Drain, then spread them on a large plate. Let them cool down completely. Day old rice is ideal for this.

In another pot boil milk together with the bay leaf, take it off heat and add the fish. Leave it there for about 5 minutes, then peel off the skin and flake it. Set aside.

Melt couple of tablespoons of butter in a pan on a medium heat. Cook chillies, garlic and onion for about 5 minutes or until the onion has softened. Add the spices and cook for a minute, then add the rice and the fish and mix everything together. Cook, stirring frequently, until everything has been heated through. Take it off the heat, mix in lemon juice and parsley. Serve it with boiled eggs, mango chutney or sour cream (I like both) and extra lemon wedges.

Bon appétit,
Liga