Plokkfiskur — mashed fish with potatoes
A white fish flaked and mixed with mashed potatoes in a béchamel sauce, served piping hot with dark rye bread and butter. The ultimate anti-waste dish: leftovers of cod or haddock from the day before are used.
A white fish flaked and mixed with mashed potatoes in a béchamel sauce, served piping hot with dark rye bread and butter. The ultimate anti-waste dish: leftovers of cod or haddock from the day before are used.
Little one, I want to tell you a secret: this dish is the ocean coming back home! At our house in Reykjavík, nothing goes to waste — yesterday's fish, we flake it with our fingers like opening a gift, wrap it in warm milk and potato, and suddenly it's soft like a salty cloud. You put a slice of black bread on top, close your eyes, and feel the north wind that brought all this to you. It's humble, yes — but humble is what keeps you warm all winter!
- •Boiled white fish (cod or haddock) — leftovers from the day before (protein base from the sea)
- •Potatoes — a few, boiled (binder and satiety)
- •Milk — a bowl (sauce)
- •Butter and flour — a little (roux for béchamel)
- •Onion — one (aromatic)
- •Dark rye bread (rúgbrauð) — as much as you like (accompaniment)
Plokkfiskur — mashed fish with potatoes
A white fish flaked and mixed with mashed potatoes in a béchamel sauce, served piping hot with dark rye bread and butter. The ultimate anti-waste dish: leftovers of cod or haddock from the day before are used.
Why this dish? Björk grew up in Reykjavík in an Iceland where the sea feeds everyone: plokkfiskur, born from the resourcefulness of recycling leftover boiled fish from the day before, is the home-cooked dish of every household in her childhood — frugal, comforting, and deeply local — exactly the kind of seafood and dairy diet she remains attached to.
Little one, I want to tell you a secret: this dish is the ocean coming back home! At our house in Reykjavík, nothing goes to waste — yesterday's fish, we flake it with our fingers like opening a gift, wrap it in warm milk and potato, and suddenly it's soft like a salty cloud. You put a slice of black bread on top, close your eyes, and feel the north wind that brought all this to you. It's humble, yes — but humble is what keeps you warm all winter!
Ingredients (period version)
- Boiled white fish (cod or haddock) — leftovers from the day before (protein base from the sea)
- Potatoes — a few, boiled (binder and satiety)
- Milk — a bowl (sauce)
- Butter and flour — a little (roux for béchamel)
- Onion — one (aromatic)
- Dark rye bread (rúgbrauð) — as much as you like (accompaniment)
Ingredients
- Cod or haddock fillet — 500 g (protein base)
- Potatoes — 400 g (binder)
- Whole milk — 400 ml (sauce)
- Butter — 40 g (roux)
- Flour — 40 g (roux)
- Onion — 1 medium (aromatic)
- Salt, white pepper — to taste (seasoning)
- Dark rye bread — for serving (accompaniment)
Method
- Poach the fish in lightly salted simmering water for 6-8 min, then flake with a fork, removing bones and skin.
- Boil the potatoes, peel and roughly mash them.
- Melt the butter, add the flour and cook for 1 min, then gradually whisk in the milk for a smooth béchamel.
- Sauté the chopped onion, add it to the béchamel along with the fish and potatoes.
- Mix gently, season with salt and white pepper, reheat without boiling.
- Serve piping hot with buttered dark rye bread.
How it was made : Plokkfiskur ("picked fish") is a 20th-century Icelandic home-cooking classic. Before béchamel, which came later, fish and potatoes were simply bound with a little mutton fat or butter. It was the next-day meal, never wasted on an island where every resource counts.
The contemporary twist : Reykjavík bistros now serve it oven-gratinéed, sometimes enhanced with a touch of mustard or chives — a chic version of a poor man's dish that has become a national pride.
Sources : Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir, Icelandic Food and Cookery, Hippocrene Books, 2002
Björk · Charactorium
