Tastes Like Home

Hi Everyone, Like you, I buy the same ingredients weekly, like you, I prepare the same dishes every week and like you, I am always looking for new ways to prepare these familiar ingredients that I buy often, that is why when I came across Brandade de Morue and Salt Fish Fried Rice, I knew I had to share it with you. They are perfect examples of using a familiar ingredient (Salt Fish) in unfamiliar ways.

Brandade de Morue in au gratin style (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
Brandade de Morue in au gratin style (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

Brandade de Morue is a dish that has its origins in the South of France. Essentially it is a paste made of salt cod, olive oil, cream that’s infused with thyme and bay leaves and roasted garlic, lemon juice and seasoned with white pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.  The Salt Fish is first de-salted (soaking and boiling) leaving in just enough salt to flavor the dish, patted dry and then shredded or pounded into very fine threads. Heated oil and the infused cream are gradually added to the Salt Fish, whipped and mixed to become fluffy and creamy. I marvelled at the transformation of the Salt Fish in this dish, it became delicate and light as it increased in volume.  When I tasted the dish, I found myself on a higher plateau of taste. The Brandade de Morue was sophisticated, yet grounded in the simplicity in the use of Salt Fish; and while it was delicate in texture, it was pronounced in taste.

Brandade de Morue  with tasted baguette  (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
Brandade de Morue with tasted baguette (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

What I like about this dish also, is that it can be served in 3 different ways, as the paste it is, as a dip and as a main dish served in the style of au gratin (sprinkled with breadcrumbs and baked brown). In its original form (as a paste) Brandade de Morue is usually served with toasted baguette but any crusty bread would do, you can also use it as a filling with crepes. To be used as a dip, the paste needs to be a little more moist and creamy; this is done my simply stirring in more of the cream mixture.  Serving it au gratin gives the top a crust that enhances and contrasts the softness of the paste. Some people incorporate mashed potatoes into the mixture to give the dish more body.

I hope you try making this dish, especially if you like Salt Fish and have been looking for ways to use it other than the usual such as sautéed, buljol or fish cakes.

The next dish I made using Salt Fish was fried rice. I know you just did a double-take and re-read that line but it is not a typo, you read correctly. Salt Fish fried rice is a well-known dish in parts of Malaysia and China. The first time I heard about this dish was last year when I wrote a column about our use of Salt Fish in the Caribbean. I received several emails from friends with origins in both countries about the delights of Salt Fish fried rice. I knew immediately that I was going to try making this dish.

At first I wondered about the taste given that Salt Fish has a distinct taste as does fried rice. I pondered about how to add the Salt Fish to the fried rice, after de-salting it, should I cut it up into bite-size pieces and add it as we would do if making chicken, pork or beef fried rice? I consulted a number of recipes and I realized that it was the flavor of the Salt Fish in the dish that was important; it was not about having chunks of Salt Fish to eat. I learnt that the Salt Fish instead of being cut into pieces should be shredded, and so that is what I did. I fried the Salt Fish along with the aromatics of ginger and garlic, added the vegetables and cooked the fried rice as usual.

The fact that I am recommending this dish means that it was a success. The shredded Salt Fish could be tasted in every fork and spoonful and surprisingly the flavor of the Salt Fish did not overwhelm the taste of other ingredients or of the dish as a whole. Everything worked well together. My tasters and I could not stop eating this fried rice.

Making these two dishes using this familiar ingredient of Salt Fish was educational and instructive and that’s one of the many things I like about cooking. I watched and tasted how with a different application, Salt Fish became light, fluffy and creamy in the making of Brandade de Morue. I learnt that adding certain strongly flavoured ingredients to a highly flavoured dish resulted in a unified yet unique taste.

As I continue to discover and learn more about using familiar ingredients in unfamiliar ways and dishes, be assured that I’ll share them with you. And I hope you will share your discoveries with me too.  I think we’re off to a good start here with the Brandade de Morue and the Salt Fish Fried Rice. Email me for either or both recipes.

Cynthia
tasteslikehome@gmail.com
www.tasteslikehome.org