To Cure Shad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and press
Prepare the shad as you would herrings.
Place the shad on a board and weigh it down with a stone.
Let the shad sit for three days.
Wash and drain
Remove the shad and wash them in brine.
Drain the shad well.
Cure
Mix the saltpetre and brown sugar together with alum salt to taste.
Pack the shad in alternate layers with the salt mixture.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Shad
- The main fish, which the cure penetrates and preserves through its flesh.
- Saltpetre
- Acts as a curing agent that helps preserve the fish and keep its colour.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the sharpness of the salt in the cure.
The step that matters
Drain the shad well. Surface moisture dilutes the cure and slows how evenly salt and curing agents penetrate the flesh, so excess water should be removed before packing.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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