Boiled Salt Cod
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the salt cod in cold water overnight.
Poach the cod
Place the cod in a kettle and cover with cold water.
Bring to a boil and skim the surface.
After boiling for three minutes, move the kettle to the back of the stove and cover it well.
Serve
Let it sit for ten minutes, then drain and serve immediately with Bechamel sauce.
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
- Salt cod
- Main protein; salt-cured so soaking restores moisture and reduces saltiness before cooking.
- Cold water
- Draws salt out during soaking and gently cooks the fish without toughening it.
- Bechamel sauce
- Adds creamy richness and moisture that balances the lean, firm texture of the cod.
The step that matters
Moving the kettle off the heat after boiling. Once the water has boiled, holding the fish just below a simmer keeps the flesh tender. Continued hard boiling tightens the proteins and makes the cod dry and stringy.
“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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