The following recipe is a result of my endless efforts in cooking during the 2020 Covid lockdown in UK. Even if my life (as well as of many others) was not so exciting at that time, the soup ended up to be delicious!

In our family we have now as a tradition to go to the local fishmonger and have a fish every Saturday. However, the situation forced us most of the time during the Covid lock down to rely on deliveries. It doesn’t matter, smoked mackerel was equally good. For that kind of recipe you can use any kind of fish you would like but i highly suggest to at least try once smoked mackerel.

Its taste is different from any other fish you have ever tried and its believed to be incredible healthy. Dont take my word for it. Thats what NHS says!

Oily fish (like mackerel) are:

high in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, which may help to prevent heart disease

a good source of vitamin D

from the NHS website

Obviously there are many ways to cook it but the following recipe even if it is not traditionally Greek is still extremely good. Lets not forget that any Fish is really popular in Greece and we have lots of variations for our traditional fish soup.

Any way, on with the recipe!

Smoked Mackerel Soup Ingredients

• 1 whole smoked mackerel or 2 packets of vacuum-sealed mackerel fillets
• 1 peeled onion
• 2-3 small potatoes
• 2 carrots
• 3 sticks of celery
• large handful of parsley
• 1 bay leaves
• 1 vegetable stock
• 100ml cream

METHOD

I did use for this case vacuum sealed mackerel fillets but in case you have a whole smoked mackerel then you have to clean it first. Make sure you keep the flesh, and discard any bones from the mackerel.

Take a deep pot and add the choped onion until it begins to sizzle. Cut the carrots and the potatoes into cubes or basically small sizes. Also dice the celery and the parsley.

Throw the vegetables and the few bay leaves to the pan and fry with the onions for a few minutes. Fill it up with around 750ml of water and throw in the vegetable stock. Cook as long as it takes for the vegetables to become tender.

Gentle add the fish to the bottom of the pot and let it cook for 2-4 minutes in low heat. Finally, add your cream and pepper and remove from the heat after 1 minute just as it comes to simmer.

Taste for seasoning and add seasoning based on your requirements.