Smoked Wild Irish Salmon with Horseradish Cream, Arjard, and Pickled Red Onions

Wild Irish salmon is a now a rare treat, but for the last couple of years we have managed to get a small number from fishermen on the Blackwater River. We treasure each one and eat some fresh, cure and smoke some ourselves, or give them to Bill Casey, our local smoker, to smoke for us. We hot- and cold-smoke the salmon and teach the students both methods of preserving. For this recipe we use cold-smoked salmon, but flakes of the hot-smoked variety would also be delicious.

• 6-8oz cold-smoked wild Irish salmon, cut into 1/2in cubes 

For the Pickled Red Onions:

• 1 cup white wine vinegar 

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 

• Pinch of salt 

• 3 whole cloves 

• 1 cinnamon stick, broken 

• 1 dried red chile 

• 1lb red onions, peeled and thinly sliced on a mandolin 

For the Arjard (cucumber salad):

• 2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise 

• 1 red chile, seeded and sliced into rings 

• 1 green chile, seeded and sliced into rings 

• 1/4 cup sugar 

• 6 tablespoons water
  6 tablespoons malt vinegar 

• 1/2 teaspoon salt 

• 1 cucumber, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced 

To serve:

• Chervil sprigs and wild garlic or chive blossom in season 

• Freshly ground black pepper 

To make the pickled onions, put the vinegar, sugar, salt, and spices in a heavy-bottomed pan and bring to a boil. Put in one-third of the sliced onions and simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until they turn pink and wilt. Lift out the cooked onions with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a 1 pint sterilized jam jar with a nonreactive lid. Repeat with the rest of the onions, cooking them in two batches. Top off the jar with the hot vinegar, put on the lid, and set aside to cool overnight. Once cold, store in the fridge.

To make the Arjard, put all the ingredients except the cucumber in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Set aside to cool. Once cold, pour the marinade over the slices of cucumber and set aside to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

To serve, arrange the cubes of salmon on a plate, add some Arjard and pickled red onion and scatter a few sprigs of chervil, wild garlic, or chive flowers over the top. Finish with some freshly ground black pepper.