50 Recipes, #48: Salt cod cakes

[nonelvis]

I've never cooked with salt cod, and since it's plentiful this time of year (presumably because so many Catholic families around here use it in the Feast of the Seven Fishes), I figured it was long past time to try making something with it myself. I used a recipe from Jasper White's Summer Shack Cookbook, which could not have been easier and made absolutely lovely cod cakes. All we needed on the side was homemade tartar sauce and some broccoli rabe steamed with garlic, hot pepper, and olive oil. Perfect.

Comments

[platypus]

It's kind of bizarre that I grew up Catholic in a heavily Catholic area and never heard of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Though Wisconsin tends to be a bit more German-Catholic than Italian.

[iko.livejournal.com]

Are cod cakes dry or moist?

My mother made some silverfish fritters (tortang dulong) over the weekend for me and I realized that I don't like lumpy, moist seafood-based cakes. I really like them very dry, well-fried, and dipped in garlic-flavored vinegar over rice. Mm.

[nonelvis]

I guess it must be an Italian-only tradition? I'm certainly no expert on Catholic feasts!

[nonelvis]

They're a little of both -- crispy on the outside, moister on the inside. If you're after pure crispness, they're probably not what you want. (I very nearly ended up using this recipe, though, which it sounds like you might enjoy more.)

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

It is, indeed, an Italian tradition. My German-American Great-Great-Aunt Tessie used to visit my Italian-American grandmother for Christmas every year and stay for a few days. She hated fish. She said that the whole thing with no meat on Fridays that lasted up until Vatican II in the 1960s was because of the popes from Genoa hundreds of years ago who wanted to help out the poor starving fisherman in Genoa. No amount of historical information, logic, or begging could convince my grandmother to serve meat either on Friday or on Christmas Eve.

[joyeh.livejournal.com]

Are they salty? How fishy do they taste? I've never been able to imagine their taste very well.

elainetyger, you have an aunt Tessie! My second daughter is named Tess and we call her Tessie quite a bit (something I did not imagine we'd do).

[nonelvis]

They taste a little stronger than regular cod, maybe? They also have a slightly firmer, less flaky texture than regular cod. Other than that, you're dealing with ordinary fish cakes.

I do recommend trying them if you can get salt cod, though.