Snoek - A delicasy from the heart of the Capelands

"Snoek, or Tyrsites atun, is an edible fish that is native to South African, South American and Australian waters. It is a silvery and oily fish, traditional to the Cape. It is available fresh when in season and frozen at other times of the year. It has long needle like bones and doesn't need to scaled before cooking." Snoek can be boiled to make smoorsnoek, braaied(on the open fire), grilled, salted, smoked or deep fried.
To make smoorsnoek, visit my friend, Sophia's blog
How to braai/grill snoek, click here
How to smoke snoek, click here

My sister and her family went to the West Coast this holiday and they brought back some smoked snoek...not smoke flavored snoek, but the real deal. We had some of it with brown bread and korrel konfyt(grape jam) and today I want to share with you a recipe for a Smoked Snoek Quiche. If you cannot get hold of smoked snoek, smoked angelfish, mackerel or even kippers can work.
First you need a really good pastry and in this case I used a rich Cheesy Pastry.

Ingredients for the pastry (Enough for 1 quiche and a few pieces for an interesting biscuit)
100g butter, plus extra for greasing
150g mature cheddar cheese, or a mixture of cheddar and Parmesan
100gplain flour, plus extra for dusting the work surface
freshly ground black pepper
1 free-range egg yolk

Heat oven to 220C/425F. Lightly grease a large loose-bottom quiche pan with butter and cover it with a piece of baking parchment.
2. Finely grate the cheese into a mixing bowl. Sift in the flour and add some freshly ground black pepper and mix.
3. Cut the butter into little cubes and rub them into the mixture with your fingertips. When the butter has almost disappeared into the flour and you have a crumbly mixture, stir in the egg yolk with a butter knife. Bring the pastry together in a ball and roll out the pastry or just press it down in the quiche pan and bake blind for about 8-10 minutes.

For the filling

300gr smoked snoek - deboned and flaked.
6 eggs
250ml cream
250ml strong white chedder cheese-grated.

Mix all the ingredients together and pour into the pastry case. Bake until firm to the touch. Serve with a lovely salad with balsamic roasted vegetables.


Now....if you have dough left, make Cheese and apple biscuits. Roll dough in little balls (grape size), make a little hole in the ball with the back end of a wooden spoon and fill with apple jelly. Bake until golden in color and enjoy. Be warned these biscuits are so addictive that you will make these and forget about the quiche!!!!