In a country that's blessed with some of the best seafood in the world, it's ironic that religion has left many Irish people with a bad taste in their mouths as regards fish. The present older generation remembers a time when fast days were more rigorously observed than they are now, and every Friday was a meatless day whether you liked it or not. These days, when effortless refrigerated transport is a given and even little towns have supermarkets with fresh fish, it's hard to remember that even just fifty years ago there were places in Ireland (especially inland) where the only fish you could get your hands on were either salted or canned.

Even at such times, though, the sweet white flesh of cod has always been an Irish favorite. The reaction here has been bitter at times when cod fishing had to stop for a year or three because the stocks in the waters between here and Iceland had been overfished. These days as much cod comes to Irish shoppers from the south Pacific as from the north Atlantic: fish from New Zealand routinely turn up on the fishmonger's slab along with the traditional Icelandic cod.

While the most popular treatment for cod is probably still the straightforward batter-frying, cod is also a fish that bakes well, and stands up well to other robust flavors such as bacon. This traditional treatment adds onions and potatoes, and makes a substantial and tasty cold-weather lunch or supper dish. The potatoes dissolve a little into the cream while baking to help thicken the plentiful, rich, buttery sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1 Spanish / yellow onion, sliced
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 lb potatoes, parboiled and thinly sliced
• Salt and pepper
• 4 good sized cod steaks, or firm white fish steaks of your choice
• 1/2 lb lean smoked streaky bacon
• 10 fluid ounces cream or milk
• Chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C. Soften the onion in 4 tablespoons of butter and place some of it in the bottom of a baking dish. Put the sliced potato on top and season well. Put the cod steaks on top of the potatoes and cover with the rest of the onions and the bacon. (If your bacon has rinds, cut them off before topping the dish with them: otherwise they're likely to curl up and pull themselves away from the fish.

Place the dish in the oven. After 15 minutes of baking, pour the cream into the dish, dot with the remaining butter and replace in the oven. Bake for another 40 minutes.

Garnish with parsley, if you like it, and serve with potato cakes and a green salad.

If you're concerned about the calories in the cream, you can omit it, but you must cover the dish with foil and keep it covered during the entire baking period. You can also substitute milk if you like, but it's more likely to curdle while baking and leave you with a sauce that's not particularly smooth. We haven't tried this with half and half, but it's something you might consider.