Alphabetic Recipes Ff — Ffiledi Cegddu wedi eu Llenwi (Stuffed Fillets of Hake)

Today we have a classic Welsh (Cymric) recipe from my home for the letter 'Ff'. And, yes, in the Welsh alphabet, Ff is a single letter. The sound is equivalent to the English 'F' (The Welsh 'F' is equivalent to the English 'V'). And just before anyone complains that this is weird, just remember that the Welsh had been using the Latin alphabet for over 900 years before English even existed.

Today's is the seventh entry of my new series of Alphabetic recipes. Each day for the next month and more, I will be adding a new recipe linked to a different letter of the alphabet. As I collect recipes from all over the globe, and have lots of Welsh recipes, I am going to use a blend of the Welsh and English alphabets:

A | B | C | D | E | F | Ff | G | H | I | J | K | L | Ll | M | N | O | P | Q | R | Rh | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

so there will be 30 entries in total. As today is the seventh day in this series I am providing a recipe starting with the letter 'Ff'.


This is a classic Cymric (Welsh) recipe for a traditional dish of hake fillets that are sandwiched together and stuffed with a mix of breadcrumbs, herbs, onion and lemon zest that are poached in white wine and served with a tomato-based sauce. Any firm white sea fish can be used and it's often made with cod, pollack and haddock as well as hake. I am giving the hake version as this is a fish not many people consider.

Ffiledi Cegddu wedi eu Llenwi (Stuffed Fillets of Hake) Recipe

Ingredients:

For the Hake:
1 hake, in 2 fillets
finely-grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
150ml white wine
salt and freshly-ground black pepper

For the Filling:
225g white breadcrumbs
1 small onion, finely chopped
50g butter
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
1 tbsp thyme, finely chopped
1 tbsp chives, finely chopped
finely-grated zest of 1 lemon

For the Sauce:
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp Demerara sugar
150ml red wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped



Method:
Ensure the hake fillets are thoroughly pin boned and scaled then wipe them dry and season liberally with salt and black pepper.

In the meantime, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and garlic and fry for 3 minutes, or until the onions are soft and translucent then stir in the breadcrumbs, herbs and the lemon zest and mix thoroughly to combine. Take off the heat and set aside to cool.

Arrange one of the fish fillets (skin side down) on a large sheet of kitchen foil then spoon the filling in an even layer on top. Sit the second fillet (skin side uppermost) on top of the filling then brush a little butter over the top.

Shape the kitchen foil into a parcel and pour the wine over the top. Seal the foil parcel then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 200ºC and bake for 15 minutes, or until the fish is tender and flakes easily with a fork.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the onion and garlic and fry gently for a few minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent. Stir in the tomatoes (and their juice), along with the vinegar, sugar and red wine. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook gently for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced somewhat. Stir in the parsley and take off the heat.

When cooked, take the fish out of the oven. Extract the fish from its parcel and arrange on a large, warmed, serving plate. Pour the sauce over and around the fish then serve.

This recipe is brought to you in conjunction with the Celtnet Guide to Recipes Beginning with 'Ff'.

Find more Welsh recipes on the Recipes from the British Isles page of this blog.