Icelandic fish and potato stew (Plokkfiskur)

1. Peel the potatoes, boil them in salted water for 20 minutes until tender and drain.

2. Poach the cod in lightly salted, barely simmering water for 6-8 minutes until just cooked, then lift out and break into large flakes.

3. Finely chop the onion and soften it in the butter for 5 minutes until translucent.

4. Sprinkle over the flour, stir for 1 minute, then gradually pour in the milk and cook into a thick white sauce.

5. Stir in the roughly crushed potatoes and the fish, season with salt and plenty of black pepper and heat for 2-3 minutes; keep it chunky.

6. Serve with buttered rye bread.

Tip: Plokkfiskur started life as a leftover dish: Icelandic housewives "broke up" the previous day's boiled fish and potatoes together. There is no need to mash it perfectly - the chunky texture is the point. In Iceland it is served with dark, sweetish rye bread (rúgbrauð), thickly buttered.