Apple and smoked mackerel salad

First make the dressing. Whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
Trim the fennel bulbs and cut them in very fine slices lengthways, using a mandolin or sharp knife. Set aside.
Fill a large bowl with cold water and add the juice of half a lemon.
Peel the apples using a potato peeler (or this excellent device) and drop them immediately into the lemony water.
When all the apples are peeled, use a corer to remove the cores and stalks. Cut the apples horizontally into very fine slices, and put them back into the bowl of acidulated water (this will prevent them from going brown).
Remove any fine bones from the mackerel and pull it into large flakes.

For the chilli croutons:
Heat the vegetable oil in a small pan.
Tear the bread into little tatters and fry in the hot oil, tossing once or twice, until they are a rich golden brown.
Drain on a piece of kitchen paper and sprinkle with chilli powder and a little salt.

To serve, arrange the fennel, apple and mackerel on a platter, or on individual plates.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad, and top with the croutons.
Serve immediately.

Reprinted
with permission of Scrumptious
South Africa.
To visit Scrumptious
South Africa’s blog, click
here.