Salt Cod
Ingredients
Directions
Soak
Soak the salted cod for 12 hours, changing the water 2-3 times if it is stale.
Soak the salted cod for 4 hours if it is newly salted.
Poach the fish
Lay the fish on a strainer in a kettle.
Cover the fish with water by 2 inches.
Bring the water to a simmer, ensuring it does not boil, and skim off any foam.
Simmer the fish for 1 hour for a 6-pound fish or 1.5 hours for a 10-pound fish.
Serve
In a separate saucepan, boil parsnips until tender to serve with the fish.
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
- Salted cod
- Salting firms the flesh, and soaking draws out salt so the fish can be eaten.
- Parsnips
- Boiled until tender, they add a mild, sweet vegetable side to the fish.
The step that matters
Bring the water to a simmer, not a boil. Boiling toughens and breaks up the delicate fish flesh, while a gentle simmer cooks it evenly and keeps it tender and moist.
“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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