A perfect summer recipe and a real treat when our Kitchen team make it for our residents, this is another dish through which we can trace interesting histories.

The dish’s name references its French origins; ‘en croûte’ referring to anything wrapped in pastry and baked thereby creating a ‘crust’, although it is sometimes also known as Salmon Wellington in the UK. Either way, its origins as a popular dish are thought to be through the influence and fashion for French cuisine in the 19^th Century. Renowned French chef and restaurateur August Escoffier is often credited with introducing, or at least popularising, Salmon Coulibiac in France which is the likely origins of the dish. This was in turn influenced by a Russian festive dish called a Kulebyaka, a type of oblong pirog or Eastern European pie baked with a yeast dough. The dish was distinctive in both the amount or filling (2 – 3 times the amount of pastry!) and use of pancakes to wrap the filling. The filling itself could be adapted according to budget, but often combined with salmon or sturgeon, ground meat, buckwheat, boiled eggs, mushrooms, onions and herbs especially dill, wrapped in a rich yeast dough such as a brioche or puff pastry.

At the Charterhouse the importance of fish in the diet can be traced back to medieval times. Abstaining from eating meat on a Friday and during fasting days especially over Lent, was a Christian practice that was solidified during this period thereby increasing the popularity of fish dishes. Medieval monks were subject to strict dietary rules, and the  Carthusian order was also one that practiced austerity. The Carthusian monks  were not allowed to eat meat, but their diet did include fish. The monks usually ate alone in their cells, but there was a Refectory for communal eating on Sundays and Feast days situated roughly where the Old Library is today. Visitors to the Charterhouse ate in the Guest Hall and their meals would have included meat prepared in a separate kitchen outside the walls of the monastery.

Freshwater fish including salmon were plentiful in rivers until the stocks started to decline in the 19^th century due to overfishing, and there is a long history of fishing  in London rivers, including at Lambeth Palace.  Fish pies made using pastry can also be traced back to the medieval period in England. Fifteenth Century cookery books include a white fish based Lentern Pie and a Salmon Pie recipe which combine savory and sweet ingredients such as dried fruits, spices and sugar in a way that would be unfamiliar (and unpalatable) to contemporary tastes.

The tradition of combing ingredients in this way continued into the Tudor period, and it’s very likely that even if the Carthusian monks didn’t eat a pastry covered fish pie they would definitely have graced the tables at the Charterhouse during it’s days as a Tudor mansion when grand banquets would have been held for elite guests. If a fish pie was served at Thomas Sutton’s table however, given the Protestant character of his charity when it was founded in 1611, it would most likely not have been connected to the religious calendar. In fact, Charterhouse records held at The London Archive show that the ‘Poor Brothers’ who lived at the Charterhouse once it became an almshouse had a heavily meat-based diet – including on a Friday.

Today ‘Fish Fridays’ are back on the menu, not in a religious capacity but as part of a healthy diet the Kitchen team plans and cooks for our residents. Their Salmon en Croûte recipe takes in various influences and histories, and has been updated for contemporary tastes.

Ingredients

Serves two

8oz fresh fillet of salmon (with the skin removed)

2oz baby spinach

2oz green pesto

1 x sheet of puff pastry

2oz cherry tomatoes

1 clove garlic

1 small banana shallot

1oz flat leaf parsley

1 lemon

1 egg (whisked to create a wash for the pasty)

1oz cornflour

small bunch of watercress

olive oil

nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Pre-heat an over to 182° and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
• To make a tomato compote, sweat the finely chopped shallot in a pan over a low heat for around 5 minutes until translucent, add half of the chopped clove of garlic and then add the cherry tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and finally the chopped parsley. Then set aside.
• Add some oil to a pan and gently wilt the washed and dried spinach, add the remaining half clove of garlic, a pinch of nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Fold in the cornflower to absorb any moisture.
• Cut the salmon in half laterally, add a layer of the spinach mixture between the two sections of salmon and a layer of pesto to the top of the fish.
• Lay the puff pastry on a floured cutting board, place the salon towards the centre then fold over the pastry over it and then fold the edges over to create an envelope effect, pressing the edges slightly to seal.
• Then transfer to a lined backing tray, brush the top of the pastry envelope with the egg wash and use a spoon to gently press into the pasty to create the effect of scales.
• Place the pastry envelope on a baking tray and cook for 45 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
• Plate up adding half of the tomato compote, a small sprig of watercress and half a lemon to squeeze over the fish and serve.