Introducing Little Cousin François. (He's a trout)

Made using the finest fresh rainbow trout we can find, of course still sourced from our man at Billingsgate. The trout is hand filleted in our smokehouse near Lewes in East Sussex. We've even made a video so you can see how we do that. It's on our Instagram page.

As always, we slow cure him. This means we put him into an aromatic blend of salt, sugar fennel seeds and Pernod for several days. Once done, out he pops, he's rinsed and dried ready for the smoker.

We use our own unique blend of apple, alder and beechwood for this guy. It's a light smoke which allows the cure to shine without becoming overly smokey.

Lastly we hand slice him. It takes longer and creates a few more imperfections, but the imperfections are what sets it apart from mass produced machine sliced trout - think of the difference between a ready meal and a home cooked dish.

Delicious on rye bread with a little horseradish. Go easy on the lemon and let the Pernod shine through.