Smoked Mackerel Pâté

1. 1Run your fingers over the mackerel fillets and pull out the row of fine pin bones down the centre. They are easy to miss and impossible to ignore later.
2. 2Put two thirds of the fish into a food processor with the cream cheese, crème fraîche, horseradish, lemon juice and pepper. Blitz to a smooth paste, about 30 seconds.
3. 3Scrape it into a bowl and flake the remaining third of the mackerel through it by hand. Leaving that third chunky is what stops it reading as a dip — pâté wants something to bite on.
4. 4Fold in the dill and chives.
5. 5Taste, and be prepared to add more lemon. Smoked mackerel is oily and salty and needs more acid than seems reasonable to cut through it.
6. 6Press into a bowl or small dishes, cover, and chill for at least an hour. It firms up considerably and the smoke settles.
7. 7Serve cold with hot toast, which is the entire point of the temperature contrast.

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