Craster Kippers with cous cous and chickpeas

Craster kippers, believe it or not, come from the village of Craster in Northumberland.  It's almost impossible to describe the aroma and flavour...full of the taste of the sea, almost nutty, certainly wholesome salt-of-the-earth stuff.  Eating these is a bit like putting a conche shell to the ear and hearing the waves: the flavour and aroma if the Craster kipper evokes memories of long walks on wild and windswept beaches, the taste and smell of the sea blowing onto your lips...   They were surprisingly inexpensive too, and another healthy low cholesterol meal to boot.

I am sure there are many very traditional ways of tackling a Craster kipper.. But I decided to improvise with my own ideas. 

This recipe was more than ample for a supper for 4 people.

Ingredients:

2 Craster Kippers

1 small cup of large cous cous (dry weight, then cooked with 3x water, according to packet instructions)

About 6 heaped tablespoons of pre-cooked chickpeas (soaked overnight then simmered, or a couple of cans of chickpeas would do)

1 big onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves

1 green pepper chopped into small pieces

a cup of dry cider

black pepper

olive oil

Fry the onions, garlic and pepper gently.  Whilst those are sizzling quietly in the pan, remove the fish meat from the bones and skin of the kippers.  That is quite a tricky task. I used a very sharp knife to score down the major skeletal lines, then tried to pull away the flesh leaving as many bones as possible behind.  Keep the skin, bones and head of the fish to make fish stock later (recipe to follow).  Add the fish to the pan and heat through slowly.  Then add the chickpeas and cous cous, pour over the cider, add a generous grinding of black pepper, and heat through thoroughly (being careful not to over cook).

This was a really simple dish to make, very quick, with strong, robust smokey-oak flavours.  I had mine with a half (or so..) of my favourite Herefordshire Westons organic dry cider and a hunk of very fresh French bread, but I think it is probably crying out for accompaniment of Northumbrian traditional beer and a bit of a tune on the Northumbrian pipes...