This ‘recipe’ is a result of enjoying mackerel pate at a dear friend’s house over 10 years ago and when I asked him how he made it he said ‘oh you know add a bit of horseradish sauce as you make it’. So the quantities are a suggestion and you will have to adapt it to meet your taste or even your mood!

3-4 smoked mackerel fillets
200g soft cheese
juice of a lemon
2-3 heaped teaspoons of horseradish sauce or grated horseradish
splash of cream (optional)

Remove the skin from the mackerel and place in a bowl and mash.
Add the soft cheese and mix thoroughly (a hand held blender is brilliant for this)
Add half the lemon juice and all the horseradish and mix again

Now is the good bit – taste and decide whether you fancy more lemon or horseradish. If it all seems a bit thick you can add a splash of cream or top of the bottle if you have good old fashioned bottle milk.

This goes really well with oatcakes so I hope you enjoy!
And if you don’t eat it all in one go it does freeze well.