20 AUGUST 2005, Page 20

Feasting on perch

From Eric Cowell Sir: Simon Courtauld in his Food for Thought column (‘Perchance to eat’, 13 August) seems unaware that in the second world war, perch were caught and canned in Windermere as part of the war effort. The operation was based at Wray Castle and the product in oval cans was marketed as ‘Windermere Perchines’. Excellent too. The Fresh Water Biological Association had its roots in this patriotic effort. As children in the Lake District in wartime Britain we often caught perch on simple bamboo rods, using minnows as bait. We ate the fillets rolled in oatmeal and cooked gently in bacon fat, or poached in a little milk. A great breakfast, only bettered by trout caught with a worm bait.

Eric Cowell Ely, Cambridgeshire