Poaching is a very common method for cooking smoked or unsmoked haddock as it is gentle and unobtrusive. Once cooked, the haddock can be skinned and flaked and used in a variety of dishes from fish pie to kedgeree.

Poaching is a gentle method so it is necessary to keep the temperature of the milk below boiling. If the temperature is too high it will result in dry, overcooked fish.

To check that the fish is cooked, insert a skewer into the thickest part of the fish – it should go through with no resistance.

The leftover milk can be used for a fish pie, soup or sauce.

Poaching haddock in milk adds a sweetness to the flavour of the fish; you can enhance this flavour by adding aromatics such as black pepper, thyme, garlic and onion.

For a more exotic flavour, try adding chilli and ginger or even a spoon of curry powder.

Shay Cooper uses poached haddock in his delicious Kedgeree recipe and Mark Dodson poaches his haddock in cream for his smoked haddock risotto with grain mustard sauce.