Large pike, dried, gutted, headless, Veladis

Pike (Esox lucius) is a predator of rivers and lakes and one of the leanest freshwater fish, with about one per cent fat. Dried, it gives dry, firm meat that tears in long fibres and takes a good while to chew.

These are large fish, gutted and headless: neither the bitter innards nor a head with nothing to eat on it come in the pack. The taste is clean and salty, with a slightly sweet finish.

Start at the back: the skin is thick and comes off in strips, then the meat is taken off along the backbone. Pike has forked bones in the meat; in dried fish they are hard and easy to pick out.

With a pale lager.

Sold by weight. Store somewhere dry and cool, ideally in paper or cloth: in an airtight bag dried fish sweats and spoils.