Jane Grigson's Fish Book - Jane Grigson [51]
This recipe gives you a good way of using up the thin tail end of salt cod. The sharp cooking means that the plump kind is unsuitable, since the fish should be permeated with the flavours.
For four people, soak 500 g (1 lb) salt cod. Then cook, bone and drain it well. Leave on the skin and cut it into handy pieces for eating. Dry them on kitchen paper.
Heat up the pot you intend to use with enough oil to cover the base comfortably. In it, cook 4 quartered cloves of garlic until they are golden brown, together with 2 small hot dried chillis (if you are not accustomed to this kind of dish, taste the oil occasionally and remove the chillis when it is piquant enough).
Put in the cod, skin side down. Cook for a minute or two, moving the bits about to avoid sticking. Then turn and cook briefly again. Serve immediately (put back the chillis for the sake of appearance and the name of the dish) with plenty of bread to mop up the delicious oil.
BACALAO IN ITS OWN SAUCE (Bacalao ligado)
A favourite book of mine is Gastronomia Vasconum, a collection of Basque recipes by Juan D° de Echevarria, in five languages, published by Eduardo Izquierdo in Bilbao. I do recommend it. A number of recipes in this book are adapted from it, including this one. The magic, to me at any rate, of much Spanish and Portuguese cookery comes from the effects one can get by using heavy rustic earthenware pots directly on the heat. They are very cheap to buy on the spot, and I find they last for many years if treated reasonably carefully.
You will sometimes find that this dish is what comes to table, in restaurants, under the name of Bacalao al pil-pil (See preceding recipe).
Soak and lightly cook 500 g (1 lb) salt cod. Remove the bones and drain it well. Dry carefully before frying it.
In an earthenware pot, heat up 250 ml (8 fl oz) olive oil. In it fry 4 cloves of garlic, sliced across. Remove when they are golden brown, and keep for garnishing.
In a second pot, heat up a further 250 ml (8 fl oz) olive oil with 2 sliced cloves of garlic. When they are brown, put them aside with the other garlic. Keep the oil warm.
Into the first pan, put the cod, skin side up and add 125 ml (4 fl oz) water or light beef or veal stock. Shake the pot to and fro, adding the warm oil bit by bit. The sauce should turn creamy. Take care that the cod does not stick. Scatter the browned garlic slices on top and serve immediately.
NOTE It is wise to practise this technique with small quantities. Should you come to disaster – i.e. should the sauce not turn to a consistency somewhere between thick cream and mayonnaise – reduce the whole thing to a thready purée in the processor, or with an electric beater, to a version of Brandade, p. 104.
MEXICAN BACALAO
This recipe came from friends in Stockport who had it from a Mexican girl who worked for them a few years ago. When she left, they missed her beautiful presence but consoled themselves with this legacy that she had bequeathed them. It is a marvellous dish for a party, or for a holiday time, since it keeps well in the refrigerator for at least a week and can be eaten hot or cold.
I give the ingredients exactly as they came to me. The salt cod to use is the plump kind in plastic packages, which will not swell a great deal in the soaking. Should you be the lucky grower of good tomatoes, use them instead of canned purée, either wholly or in part. The essential thing, though, is to stick to preserved red peppers, the kind that come from Eastern Europe in jars.
Serves 8–10
1 kg (2 lb) salt cod, soaked for 24–36 hours
600 ml (1 pt) olive oil
10 cloves garlic, whole but peeled
6 large onions, sliced
2 handfuls of small parsley sprigs
5 × 150 g (5 oz) cans Italian tomato purée or 2 × 400 g (14 oz) cans passata or canned tomatoes,