Fischfrikadellen

Fischfrikadellen belong to the northern table, the coast kitchens of Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where yesterday's cooked fish becomes tonight's supper. This is weeknight food, market-stall food, and Friday food when meat stays off the plate. Weggeworfen wird nichts. A good piece of fish is eaten twice if you know how to bind it.

The regions don't agree on the binder. Along the coast I use soaked Brötchen, a white roll, squeezed nearly dry so it holds moisture without turning the fish heavy. Some inland cooks use mashed potato, some add smoked fish for depth, and in Mecklenburg you'll see more dill. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. The south has its meat Frikadellen and its river fish, but this plate speaks with a salt wind.

The one technique that decides it is the mixing. Flake the cooked fish by hand and fold it with the binder until it just holds. Mash it into paste and you've made a fish puck. Leave it too loose and it falls apart in the pan. Chill the shaped cakes before frying because cold fat firms the mixture and gives the crust time to set before the inside breaks.

Fry them in a thin film of butter and oil, not a deep bath. Runter mit der Temperatur if the crumbs darken before the centre warms through. Serve with mustard, cucumber salad, or potatoes, and don't hide a tired fish cake under jarred sauce. Nicht aus dem Glas.