Savoy cabbage salad with Tilsit cheese

I love the marriage of raw tender cabbage with apple and smoked trout. The red pepper lends a touch of colour and the cheese adds another dimension to this autumnal/wintry salad. Tilsit is a semi-hard cow’s cheese that takes its name from the Prussian town of Tilsit (today called Sovetsk, in Russia) where it originated. It is popular in Switzerland, too. The flavour can be mild and light but also sometimes gently salty, which I prefer. If you cannot find it, use Gouda instead.

SERVES 4

1 firm, small Savoy or Chinese cabbage (about 400g)

80ml groundnut oil

2½ tbsp cider vinegar (ideally) or white wine vinegar

10g caraway seeds

180g Tilsit cheese

2 whole hot-smoked trout

1 red pepper, halved, cored and deseeded

2 apples, preferably Cox

Juice of ½ lemon

15g flat-leaf parsley leaves

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Remove the outer leaves from the cabbage, then halve lengthways and slice each cabbage half as finely as possible. Place in a large bowl. Add the oil, vinegar and a little salt and pepper. Scatter over the caraway seeds, toss well and set aside for at least 20 minutes.

Cut the cheese into cubes or batons. Remove the skin from the smoked trout, lift off the 4 fillets and set aside on a plate. Cut the red pepper into fine julienne. Peel, core and roughly chop the apples, then sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent discoloration.

To serve, add the red pepper julienne and chopped apple to the cabbage, toss to combine and check for seasoning.

Divide the salad between 4 plates, piling it into a neat mound, then flake a trout fillet over each mound. Scatter over the cheese cubes and a few parsley leaves to serve.