To Boil Cod-fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the fish and clean the inside thoroughly, especially the backbone.
Boil
Place the fish in a fish kettle and cover it with cold water mixed with salt and saltpetre.
Bring to a moderate heat, skimming off any scum that forms.
Boil gently until the fish is cooked: 20-30 minutes for medium size, 30-45 minutes for large.
Serve
Drain the fish and serve on a hot napkin, garnished with liver and roe.
Add lightly scraped horseradish around the edge and serve with oyster sauce or melted butter.
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
- Codfish
- The main protein; gentle cooking firms the flesh so it flakes cleanly.
The step that matters
Boil gently until cooked. A hard, rolling boil agitates the delicate fish flesh, causing it to break apart and turn dry and tough. Gentle heat cooks the proteins evenly and keeps the flakes intact.
“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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