Roasted Fresh Salted Cod with Bacon, Cabbage & Beer (or Salt Fish, Fast Days & the Reformation)
Indulge me for a moment, if you will, and let me pose this culinary conundrum: When the vast majority of our European neighbours, north and south, retain a tradition of cooking and preparing dishes using salted and dried cod; why is it the British stand alone in their indifference to, or perhaps more correctly, ignorance of this nutritious and tasty ingredient?
Portugal has its tradition of bacalhau dishes; in Spain they call it bacalau; in Italy baccalà and in Scandinavia and Holland they use variations of the word klippfisk. An anachronism, salt cod hails from an age before mechanical refrigeration, when there was a need to preserve large stocks of fish caught in the northern waters of the Atlantic and around the coasts of Northern Europe. At a time when transporting fresh sea fish inland, particularly in the warmer Mediterranean regions, was all but impossible; salt cod became a staple of many catholic countries on fast days (essentially meat free days) and during lent.
Prior to the 16th Century, it is clear that the Catholic English did, indeed, consume large quantities of fish, ostensibly to fulfill the religious requirements of their faith. For those of middling income living inland of the coast, this would have meant a combination of fresh water fish, from ponds and rivers, and salted white fish from the cod family, such as cod, haddock and ling. Salted herrings, though plentiful at this time, were considered the preserve (no pun intended) of the poor alone. A typical medieval dish of salt cod might comprise salted ling, soaked and then poached in wine and water, served with a green sauce; the latter containing parsley, mint and other sweet herbs, chopped and combined with pepper and either vinegar, or verjuice, for added piquancy. If this traditional medieval English accompaniment to meat and fish sounds familiar, it's probably because it bears a remarkable resemblance to that sauce the Italians call salsa verde (and to whom we now appear to give all the credit!).
Without going into a great deal of historical detail, what set fish consumption down the road of decline in this country was the Reformation. The creeping non-observance of fast days following England's conversion to Protestantism, and particularly in the wake of the Restoration, led to a marked decline in the demand for fish, in general, and preserved fish in particular. This decline was further compounded by the rise in popularity amongst the English yeomanry of the fictional 'John Bull' character; encapsulating the notion that an Englishman's strength and courage was built on the consumption of meat, in particular beef, plainly cooked.
By the mid 18th Century, when Hannah Glasse first published 'The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy', her fish dishes were far outnumbered by those containing meat and her recipes for salted fish were limited to just one: This consisted of little more than salted ling soaked, poached and served on a bed of buttered and mashed parsnips, with an accompanying cup of melted butter and hard boiled eggs.
Although the 18th and 19th Centuries saw the extensive development and growth of the cured and smoked herring industry; kippers, bloaters and smokies; and to a more limited extent, the haddock smoking industry; by the end of the Georgian era, the use of salted white fish as a part of our staple diet had all but died out.
In Mediterranean countries it is traditional for salt cod to be cooked and served with a piquant sauce, often tomato based. Unfortunately, in this country, unless you live in a metropolitan district, it is still relatively difficult to purchase good quality salt cod from a market or shop. In the age of the internet it is, of course, possible to buy salt cod (usually sold as bacalhau or bacalau) online and have it delivered by post; but be aware, it is not cheap (expect to pay around £25 per kilo)! However, if you didn't want to go to this trouble or expense, it is possible to mimic the taste and texture of salt cod by salting fresh cod for an hour or more and then briefly washing and soaking it. Just a couple of hours salting will change the texture of the fish markedly. What you're looking for is something akin to the firm texture of a good piece of well made undyed smoked haddock.
This recipe for Roasted Fresh Salted Cod has no historical precedence, rather it is a modern British dish utilising ingredients many would consider quintessential English.
Portugal has its tradition of bacalhau dishes; in Spain they call it bacalau; in Italy baccalà and in Scandinavia and Holland they use variations of the word klippfisk. An anachronism, salt cod hails from an age before mechanical refrigeration, when there was a need to preserve large stocks of fish caught in the northern waters of the Atlantic and around the coasts of Northern Europe. At a time when transporting fresh sea fish inland, particularly in the warmer Mediterranean regions, was all but impossible; salt cod became a staple of many catholic countries on fast days (essentially meat free days) and during lent.
Prior to the 16th Century, it is clear that the Catholic English did, indeed, consume large quantities of fish, ostensibly to fulfill the religious requirements of their faith. For those of middling income living inland of the coast, this would have meant a combination of fresh water fish, from ponds and rivers, and salted white fish from the cod family, such as cod, haddock and ling. Salted herrings, though plentiful at this time, were considered the preserve (no pun intended) of the poor alone. A typical medieval dish of salt cod might comprise salted ling, soaked and then poached in wine and water, served with a green sauce; the latter containing parsley, mint and other sweet herbs, chopped and combined with pepper and either vinegar, or verjuice, for added piquancy. If this traditional medieval English accompaniment to meat and fish sounds familiar, it's probably because it bears a remarkable resemblance to that sauce the Italians call salsa verde (and to whom we now appear to give all the credit!).
Without going into a great deal of historical detail, what set fish consumption down the road of decline in this country was the Reformation. The creeping non-observance of fast days following England's conversion to Protestantism, and particularly in the wake of the Restoration, led to a marked decline in the demand for fish, in general, and preserved fish in particular. This decline was further compounded by the rise in popularity amongst the English yeomanry of the fictional 'John Bull' character; encapsulating the notion that an Englishman's strength and courage was built on the consumption of meat, in particular beef, plainly cooked.
By the mid 18th Century, when Hannah Glasse first published 'The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy', her fish dishes were far outnumbered by those containing meat and her recipes for salted fish were limited to just one: This consisted of little more than salted ling soaked, poached and served on a bed of buttered and mashed parsnips, with an accompanying cup of melted butter and hard boiled eggs.
Although the 18th and 19th Centuries saw the extensive development and growth of the cured and smoked herring industry; kippers, bloaters and smokies; and to a more limited extent, the haddock smoking industry; by the end of the Georgian era, the use of salted white fish as a part of our staple diet had all but died out.
In Mediterranean countries it is traditional for salt cod to be cooked and served with a piquant sauce, often tomato based. Unfortunately, in this country, unless you live in a metropolitan district, it is still relatively difficult to purchase good quality salt cod from a market or shop. In the age of the internet it is, of course, possible to buy salt cod (usually sold as bacalhau or bacalau) online and have it delivered by post; but be aware, it is not cheap (expect to pay around £25 per kilo)! However, if you didn't want to go to this trouble or expense, it is possible to mimic the taste and texture of salt cod by salting fresh cod for an hour or more and then briefly washing and soaking it. Just a couple of hours salting will change the texture of the fish markedly. What you're looking for is something akin to the firm texture of a good piece of well made undyed smoked haddock.
This recipe for Roasted Fresh Salted Cod has no historical precedence, rather it is a modern British dish utilising ingredients many would consider quintessential English.
The Recipe
Serves 2
a couple of good thick pieces of cod fillet, around 6oz each, skin on and descaled
a generous handful of sea salt
half a savoy cabbage cored and roughly shredded
2 thick rashers of dry cured & smoked streaky bacon, such as my own
'Whitstable' Smoked Streaky, cut into thick lardons
a little butter for frying
a small to medium sized onion, chopped
a single clove of garlic, very finely chopped
5 fl oz English bitter beer, such as Gadd's No. 7
5 fl oz good chicken stock
two or three knobs of butter
a handful of curly leaved parsley, chopped
salt & freshly ground black pepper
Two hours or so before cooking, spread half the sea salt on a clean plate. Place the cod on the plate skin side down and sprinkle the flesh side heavily with the remainder of the sea salt. Cover the plate and place in the refrigerator until required.
After a couple of hours, remove the the cod pieces from the fridge and wash off the salt under cold water. Place the cod pieces in a bowl of cold water to soak for, say, twenty minutes. Meanwhile, blanch the cabbage in a large pan of boiling salted water, bring the pan back to the boil and then drain and refresh the cabbage under cold running water. Remove the cod pieces from the soaking water and pat dry with a clean cloth or kitchen paper.
Place the bacon lardons in a heavy based pan and heat gently over a low flame until the fat starts to run, at which point you can turn up the heat and fry until the bacon starts to brown. Turn down the heat again, add a little butter to the pan, tip in the onion and garlic and fry for 5 minutes or more until the onion is soft and lightly browned. Add the chicken stock and beer to the pan and reduce the volume of liquid by around a half over a high heat. Add the cabbage and knobs of butter to the pan and cook gently for a further 5 minutes until tender. Season to taste with salt (only if required) and freshly ground black pepper, stir in the parsley and, if necessary, keep warm until the cod is ready.
Whilst the cabbage is cooking, melt a little butter in a heavy metal handled frying pan (the sort you can put in the oven) over a medium heat. Season the cod on the skin side only with black pepper, place in the pan skin side down and fry for around 3 minutes. Carefully turn the fish over, ensuring the skin remains intact, and place the pan and its contents in a hot oven (gas mark 7) for 6 or 7 minutes until the cod is cooked through and the skin nicely browned and crisp. To serve, divide the cabbage mixture between 2 warmed plates, place the cod on top, skin side up, and sprinkle with a little chopped parsley.
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