Bermuda Fish Cakes

piecing together the past

Hello,

My parents married in 1955 and at that time it was typical for the local newspaper to run an article detailing many aspects of the wedding. The attire of the bride, groom, their parents, and attendants was described in addition to the flowers, what was served at the reception, and the destination for the honeymoon. My mother’s gown was “Chantilly lace over satin”, and her bouquet included “maline butterfly wings”. I thought that “maline butterfly wings” might be a type of flower that I had never heard of, but nothing at all showed in a Google search. When I opened an actual dictionary I found that maline is a type of Belgian lace. My parents saved the guest book from that day and I can see the immature signatures of some of my older cousins. Among the wedding party was a favorite niece, sister, and brother of my mother as well as my dad’s younger brother.

The destination for the honeymoon was Bermuda and my mother’s outfit for the plane ride was described as a “navy blue suit with white and blue accessories”. Some color details are useful now since their photo album is all in black and white. However, I knew the “going away” suit was navy since my mom always kept it. I can picture the attendants in pale pink or yellow from the newspaper descriptions. My parents, described as “meticulous hoarders” by my brother, saved the Bermuda brochures along with plane stubs, receipts for purchases of lamb’s wool sweaters, and even paper currency. It is no surprise that we have slides from the honeymoon and I did the color study above from one of those images that I projected onto a screen in a darkened room and painted on an easel with artificial light. It was like collaborating with my dad.

When my brother and I were somewhere in our twenties we went to Bermuda as a family. The only souvenirs that I returned with are some photos of the four of us dressed for dinner or lounging on the beach, and a minor scar on my left inner thigh from jumping off the back of a motor scooter driven by my brother and burning my leg on the exhaust pipe. Despite being mildly terrified by the scooter ride the trip is a very fond memory. We had all our meals at the hotel and it recently occurred to me that I did not have an inkling as to what constituted indigenous cuisine. I have heard of the Bermuda onion which thrives in the semi-tropical climate and was lauded by Mark Twain when he visited the island in 1877 as the “pride and joy of Bermuda”. Even though they are less of an export today, they are still celebrated during the New Year’s celebration when a giant onion is dropped at the stroke of midnight in St. George’s Parrish.

Brochures from my parent’s honeymoon

To celebrate Bermuda I wound up making fish cakes using a recipe from Robin Andrea’s Runaway Apricot which I made some minor changes to. I omitted the thyme and coated the fish cakes with bread crumbs rather than flour. She also tops her fish cakes with a poached egg and makes a sauce with mayo, mustard, and hot sauce. I served mine with wedges of lime, coleslaw, and sweet potato fries. Before refrigeration fish cakes were made with salted cod, but any white fish will work for this recipe and if you have left-over fish or mashed potatoes, even better.

Fish Cakes

Ingredients

1 lb. cod or haddock

salt and pepper

3 T. butter, divided

2 medium yellow potatoes

1 egg

1/4 cup chopped scallions

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/2 t. curry powder

2 t. Dijon mustard

1 cup bread crumbs ( I used whole wheat)

3 T. olive oil

lime wedges

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Rinse fish and pat dry. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Dot the fish with 1 T. of the butter. Bake for 10 minutes on each side. Cool.

Boil potatoes until they are fork-tender. Drain and cool. Roughly mash.

In a medium mixing bowl gently whisk the egg. Add the mashed potatoes, 2 remaining tablespoons of butter (melted in the microwave), scallions, parsley, curry powder, and mustard. Toss together lightly. Flake the fish and add to the mixture. Mix lightly. You don’t want everything to become too pasty.

Spread your bread crumbs on a dinner plate. Form the fish mixture into (8 or so) balls and then flatten with your palm. Press bread crumbs into both sides. Refrigerate for about five minutes

Heat a skillet on medium and add your olive oil to heat. Fry until golden on both sides for about five minutes.

4 servings

Thank you for reading, liking, sharing, and commenting!

Happy May Day!

Vicki