James Beard's New Fish Cookery (11 page)

CODFISH CARCASSONNE

11/2 pounds salt codfish

11/2 pounds small new potatoes

Butter
or
fat

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 to 4 tablespoons flour

Freshly ground black pepper

Chopped parsley

Soak the codfish for several hours and poach for about 15 minutes. Cut into small pieces.

Scrape or peel the potatoes and brown them in butter or fat until they are just golden. Add the garlic and sprinkle with the flour. Season with the pepper and a bit of parsley. Add broth from the fish and water mixed in equal parts — enough to cover the potatoes. Let them simmer until tender. About 4 or 5 minutes before you remove them from the heat, add the codfish and let it all blend well together.

CODFISH MARSEILLAISE

Here is another tasty way of combining salt cod and potatoes:

11/2 pounds salt codfish

Flour

1/2 cup olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

5 large or 6 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

Sage

Thyme

Salt

6 potatoes cut in quarters

White wine

Chopped parsley

Soak the codfish. When it is freshened, cut it into even-sized squares. Roll these in flour and sauté them in hot oil until nicely browned. Remove them from the pan and n the same oil sauté the onion and garlic until they are light-colored and soft. Add the tomatoes, black pepper, a pinch of sage, a bit of thyme, and let this simmer about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Oil a casserole, put the quartered potatoes in the bottom, pour the sauce over them, and add just enough white wine and water mixed to cover. Add the pieces of cod, cover the casserole, and bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Remove the cover and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

CODFISH PORTUGAISE

2 pounds dried salt codfish, soaked 12 hours, or overnight, in cold water

6 to 8 potatoes

cream

1/3 cup olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup buttered crumbs

Drain the codfish and pull apart into small pieces. Put in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, or until flaky and tender. Drain well and cool. When cool enough to handle, shred or chop very fine and pound in a mortar.

Meanwhile, steam the potatoes and mash, adding a very little cream. Beat in the codfish, oil, and garlic to make a light fluffy mixture. Taste for seasoning. (Codfish is salty, so you might not need any more salt.)

Turn into a well-buttered baking dish or casserole and sprinkle with crumbs. Bake in a 350° oven until very hot, about 35 minutes.

CODFISH SALAD

3 tablespoons cold poached salt codfish, broken into large flakes

2 cups sliced, boiled potatoes (preferably waxy, new potatoes)

1 cup finely chopped or thinly sliced onions

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Dressing

1/2 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons vinegar

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

This salad undoubtedly came from the Portuguese on Cape Cod or Nantucket.

Combine the fish, potatoes, onions, and parsley in a salad bowl. Blend the dressing thoroughly. Pour over the salad and let it mellow an hour or so before serving.

CODFISH CROQUETTES

1 cup salt codfish, soaked, poached, and flaked

3/4 cup sliced mushrooms, sautéed

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Dash of nutmeg

11/4 cups heavy white sauce

Sifted bread
or
cracker crumbs

1 egg, beaten

Oil or fat for frying

Mix the codfish, mushrooms, and seasonings and combine with the heavy white sauce. Let it cool thoroughly and form into balls, cylinders, or pyramids. Let these chill for an hour or so. Heat the fat in your fryer to 375°. Dip the croquettes into crumbs, then into beaten egg, and finally cover thoroughly with crumbs again. Fry 3 or 4 minutes or until nicely browned. Drain on absorbent paper.

VARIATIONS

1. Add another cup of codfish and omit the mushrooms.

2. Use sautéed onions in place of the mushrooms. The onions should be finely chopped and sautéed until just soft. Use 1/2 cup of onions to 11/4 cups of codfish flakes.

CODFISH CAKES 1

There are as many recipes for this delicacy as there are counties in all the New England states. One of the newest has come to me from Charles Triggs, who is an authority on fish and a man who knows codfish. His recipe is:

1 pound salt codfish

7 or 8 medium-sized potatoes

1 egg

Fat for frying

Cut the codfish across the grain into about 1/2-inch pieces. Pick the pieces apart, place in a skillet, cover with hot water, stir, and drain. Repeat two or three times, then cover with cold water and let it come to a boil. Change the water, let it come to a boil again, and simmer for a few minutes.

Boil and mash the potatoes. Drain the codfish and mix with the mashed potatoes, using a wire masher. When thoroughly mixed, add the egg and beat with a fork. Take a tablespoon of the mixture at a time and drop into deep fat, or into a frying pan with a fair amount of fat. Drain on absorbent paper.

NOTE
: This recipe can be changed according to taste — some may prefer a larger percentage of codfish, some less.

CODFISH CAKES II

This is a recipe from Martinique that is served in a pleasant restaurant in Paris specializing in food from the Antilles.

21/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

4 shallots, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Freshly ground black pepper

Beer, enough to make a batter (about 1 cup)

1/2 pound codfish, soaked, poached, and shredded

Fat for deep frying

Sift the flour and baking powder together. Add the garlic, shallots, parsley, and a good grind of black pepper. Stir in enough beer to make a batter and add the shredded codfish.

Heat the fat in your fryer to 375°. Drop the batter by spoonfuls into the hot fat and fry until nicely browned. Drain on absorbent paper.

CODFISH CAKES III

The mixture of equal quantities of mashed potatoes and cooked shredded codfish is the traditional codfish cake. Some like less potato, and others like more. Vary it to suit yourself.

1 cup shredded cooked codfish

1 cup mashed potatoes

1 or 2 eggs

Freshly ground black pepper

Butter
or
hot fat

Flour
or
crumbs (if desired)

Mix the codfish, potatoes, eggs, and pepper and form into cakes. Sauté in plenty of butter or bacon fat, or roll in flour or crumbs and fry in deep hot fat.

VARIATIONS

1. A teaspoon of ground ginger or a little finely chopped green ginger does wonderful things for codfish balls. This is a recipe that my mother’s old chef used, and the codfish balls he made were always in demand. He added plenty of butter to the mashed potatoes and then sautéed the codfish balls, spiked with ginger, in additional butter. They were crisp and rich with the mixed flavors of butter, ginger, and salt cod.

2. Southerners are apt to add finely chopped green onion to the traditional codfish cake mixture, which gives it a different flavor. Sometimes a bit of finely chopped green pepper is also added.

3. For cocktails, make the cakes very small, roll them in flour and crumbs, and deep fry them for about 3 minutes at 390°. A demitasse spoon is perfect for dropping this size ball into the basket for frying.

BRANDADE DE MORUE

1 pound salt codfish

2/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Toast triangles fried in olive oil

Soak the codfish for several hours. Wash it and bring it to a boil in cold water. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Drain the fish and shred it very fine, removing any bits of bone.

Heat the olive oil and the cream separately. Crush the garlic — in a mortar if you have one — and add the fish; if you don’t have a mortar, put both garlic and fish through the food grinder twice, using the fine blade. The fish must be very fine, so if two grindings do not seem enough, work it with a heavy wooden spoon in a bowl. This brandade can be prepared quickly and easily in a food processor. When the mixture is practically a paste, put it in a heavy saucepan over very low heat and stir well with a fork. Now add the olive oil and the cream alternately and work them both in well. Continue until all the oil and cream are absorbed and the mixture has the consistency of mashed potatoes. Season with the pepper, heap it up in the center of a serving dish, and surround it with fried toast triangles.

VARIATION

Beat mashed potatoes into the mixture. This gives a completely different texture to the dish and a more delicate flavor. It is called Benedictine, and the true eggs Benedictine are served on a bed of this. Eggs Benedict is another dish entirely.

Croaker

This fish gets its name from the air bladder it uses to give off tuneful sounds. There are a number of varieties on both coasts, and in some localities they are marketed. The croaker is a good game fish.

BROILED CROAKER

Broil whole croakers according to the Canadian cooking theory (pages 9–10). Serve with any of the fish butters — anchovy, lemon, or parsley (pages 31–33).

CROAKERS SAUTé MEUNIÈRE

To my taste, this method of preparation is usually preferable to pan frying. Dust the fish with flour and sauté lightly in plenty of butter. Season to taste and serve the fish with chopped parsley, lemon, and more butter.

PAN-FRIED CROAKERS

Roll the fish in seasoned crumbs or corn meal and sauté in butter or oil. Serve with a sauce rémoulade (page 35) or tartar sauce (pages 35–36).

Cusk

Even more streamlined than the hake, this fish is distinguished by a long black fin extending from just behind the head to the tail. It is found in northern waters and is nearly always caught on line. It puts up a good fight when hooked.

You will not often see the whole fish in the markets, but quite a bit of it is sold as fillets that are labeled something else besides cusk. It has good flavor and texture and ought to be more popular in its own right.

Cusk may be prepared in any of the ways you prepare haddock or fresh cod.

Eels

Eels are erroneously called freshwater fish by most French authorities. They are both freshwater and marine. All the European and American eels are born in the same place, a deep spot in the ocean south of Bermuda. From there they migrate to localities previously frequented by their parents — European eels go to Europe, and American eels to America. They ascend the freshwater streams, stay for a while, and then return to the spawning grounds in the Atlantic.

Eels are a traditional dish during the Italian celebration of Christmas Eve, and they are in greatest demand at the holiday season. Smoked eels are available all year and fresh eels can now be bought the year round in markets that maintain tanks in which to keep them.

PAN-FRIED EELS

First, the eels must be skinned. The traditional method is to nail the head of the eel to a wall and then skin it with one full sweep of the hand. You may also cut the eel skin around the head, and peel it back very slowly. You may need the aid of pliers to get it started. Once the eels are skinned, remove the intestines, wash the fish, and cut them into 3-inch pieces. Dip these in flour and sauté them in butter or oil until delicately browned. Season to taste and serve plain or with tartar sauce (pages 35–36).

EELS SAUTÉ PROVENÇALE

2 large eels or several small ones

Flour

6 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Skin and clean the eels, cut in 3-inch pieces, and dredge with flour. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and sauté the pieces of eel quickly according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 10). When they are done, season to taste and add the garlic, and parsley. Toss them about in the pan for a minute or two. Serve the eel with the garlic and parsley poured over the top.

EELS NAPOLITANA

2 or 3 large eels

2 cups browned crumbs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

11/2 teaspoons sugar

Flour

Beaten egg

Butter

Lemon wedges

Skin and wash the eels and cut into pieces. Mix the crumbs, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Dip the eels in flour, then the beaten egg, and finally in the crumb mixture. Sauté quickly in butter according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 10). Serve with lemon wedges.

NOTE
: The traditional way of preparing this dish is to tie the eel on a spit and roast it in front of the fire, basting it with its own juices. However, this is a little involved for most people.

EELS COMMACHIO

The Italians, like many Europeans, are very fond of eels. In fact, true international gourmets find it difficult to understand why Americans neglect this delicious fish. Here is a famous Italian recipe that does justice to it.

6 eels

1/2 cup olive oil

1 large onion, sliced fine

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon sage

1 cup tomato paste

1 cup white wine

Skin and clean the eels and cut them in 3-inch lengths. Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the onion, sage, and the pieces of eel. Sauté according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 10) until nicely browned. Season to taste; add the tomato paste and white wine. Cover and simmer until the eel is tender. Serve with rice baked in broth.

MATELOTE OF EELS NORMANDIE

See pages 51–52.

MATELOTE PROVENÇALE

This is prepared in the same way as the preceding recipe, except that white wine and water (half and half) are used in place of cider and 3 cloves of garlic are added. Sautéed mushroom caps are used as garnish along with the onions and croutons.