What A Load Of Pollacks!

A beautiful afternoon, a deserted harbour and a little boat — all you need to catch a pollack for supper is a bit of luck, says Barry Stoffell

- Barry Stoffell

The wild larder provides those of us fortunate enough to browse it with a huge array of unforgettable meals. Most of these are inherently seasonal and — from the earliest edible greens, as the weather warms up, to the first jugged hare as the autumn nights turn cooler — they mark eagerly anticipated milestones on the kitchen calendar.

As game seasons close and spring gradually surrenders to summer, my thoughts turn from the land to the ocean and the opportunity of fresh fish. From the ever-reliable pollack to the glorious, thrashing arrival of the first mackerel, the Kenmare Bay provides a significant portion of our summer diet. As April melted into May and brought fine, settled weather, fishing was once again a real possibility.

Though the ‘big’ boat was still high and dry in a distant boatyard, we keep a 14ft plastic run around at a local pier less than a mile from the house. Mostly used for entertaining summer guests or exploring the rocky coastline, in good weather it is plenty steady enough to browse the closest fishing spots in the bay. By mid-May, I had decided it was high time to get pollack back on the menu.

Because it is plentiful and delicious, I am inordinately fond of the humble pollack (Pollachius pollachius). It’s heartening to see how its popularity has risen deservedly over the past decade.

Too long a poor cousin of cod, pollack is not only equally tasty but has the added virtue of being altogether more sustainable.

Incoming tide