Cod, cabbage & smoked rye

By: Simon Bajada
From: The New Nordic
Serves: 4
Photographer: Simon Bajada

Cod is a funny one. It is highly prized around the world, but someone snacking on a delicate coral trout or garfish may wonder what all the fuss is about. Cooked badly, it can be rubbery and bland. Personally, the jury is still out, but I have to say it is hard to beat perfectly cooked skrei, the highest grade of cod, when it is first available in January having been rushed down from the Barents Sea to Norway.

Still, whatever you think of it, this popular fish has had a long and eventful history, from the start of its international trade during the Viking era, right up to the recent cod wars between Iceland and England. Many countries, including Portugal and Italy, drool over the air-dried and salted cod fillet – a form that I also adore. This recipe draws influence from that famous salty dried cod preparation, known as bacalao and brandade, but adapted here for a fresh fillet.

The recipe also gives instructions for smoking the bread. If you don’t have a smoker, you can re-create a similar flavour using hickory smoke powder.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
200g	red cabbage, finely shredded
200ml	Heavy pickling solution
800g	potatoes, peeled
500ml	full-cream milk
1	bay leaf
pinch	white pepper
4	mediterranean anchovies in oil, finely chopped
2 teaspoons	oil
600g	cod fillets
1 tablespoon	salted butter
1/4	lemon, juiced

Smoked rye

Quantity	Ingredient
200g	Authentic Danish rye bread
200g	A simpler Danish rye bread
1 teaspoon	hickory smoke powder

Method

If you are going to smoke the bread, do that first. Cut the rye bread into very thin slices and place in a smoker for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, pickle the cabbage in the pickling solution, and boil the potatoes in a large saucepan of salted water for 12–15 minutes, until soft. Drain well.
While the potatoes are cooking, combine the milk, bay leaf, white pepper, anchovies and anchovy oil in a large saucepan. Heat gently for 4–5 minutes, until the milk is steaming but not simmering. Add the cod in a single layer; the fish should be fully submerged in the milk. If you have a kitchen thermometer, the temperature should be around 60°C, but no hotter. Cook for 4 minutes, then turn over the fillets. Cook for a further 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish; it should break apart when prodded with a fork. Remove from the heat. Gently lift the cod from the milk and set aside on a plate. Pour half the milk into a jug, leaving the rest in the pan, discarding the bay leaf.
If you don’t have a smoker, preheat the oven to 180°C, sprinkle hickory smoke powder on to thinly sliced buttered rye bread and cook for about 5 minutes, until the bread has dried out, and is golden at the edges and crisp.
Add the drained potatoes to the milk mixture in the pan and mash together with the butter. It should have the consistency of dense mash; if it’s too thick add some more of the warm milk from the jug. Flake in the cod and stir through. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and lemon juice.
Spoon the mash into serving bowls, top with pickled cabbage and torn slices of rye.