Ingredients
| 1kg rehydrated or desalted cod (see below for preparation) | |
| 3 anchovy fillets in brine, or 6 anchovy fillets in oil | |
| 2 onions, chopped | |
| 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for greasing | |
| 1 garlic clove, quartered | |
| 1 handful of flat-leafed (Italian) parsley leaves, chopped | |
| 500ml milk | |
| 50g parmesan cheese, grated | |
| 200g plain (all-purpose) flour | |
| POLENTA | |
| 2 litres water | |
| 2 teaspoons coarse salt | |
| 500g polenta (cornmeal) |
This is the Friday meal in Veneto, one of the symbolic dishes of the region made from ‘poor’ ingredients. It must be served with polenta! In Venice, three good pinches of ground cinnamon are added. The real recipe is made with dried cod, but if you can’t find any, it is also very good with salt cod.
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Instructions
| 1. | Preheat the oven to 130°C. |
| 2. | Carefully remove all the bones from the cod. You can keep the skin which helps to bind the sauce. |
| 3. | Cut the fish into pieces about 6 x 6 cm and dry them with paper towels. |
| 4. | Desalt the anchovies (rinse briefly under cold water) and remove the bones. |
| 5. | Sauté the onions gently until translucent in a saucepan in the oil, then add the garlic and anchovies and melt them into the oil, crushing them with a fork. |
| 6. | Off the heat, add the parsley, milk and parmesan and mix well. Taste before seasoning with salt. |
| 7. | Flour the pieces of cod, shake off the excess, and arrange them in a single layer in an oiled baking dish. Cover with the sauce. |
| 8. | Bake the dish uncovered for 3-4 hours. If the top dries out, add more milk, but never stir! |
| 9. | You can also cook the cod on top of the stove, covered, for 2-4 hours on low heat without mixing but shaking the pot instead. |
| 10. | It will be even better if it is baked for 3 hours one day and 1 hour the next day. Serve hot with white or yellow polenta. |
| 11. | TO PREPARE DRIED OR SALT COD |
| 12. | To cook dried cod, you first need to rehydrate it for 4–5 days in water, changing the water several times a day. |
| 13. | In Veneto, it is sold already rehydrated (bagnata) because it is used regularly, except in the warmest months. |
| 14. | Dried cod, which has lost 70% of its weight, is still very high in protein, vitamins, iron and calcium and, once rehydrated, doubles in weight. |
| 15. | Allow 100g dried cod per person. Choose white- fleshed dried cod (‘ragno’, from the name of the Norwegian exporter), which is better quality. |
| 16. | In the absence of dried cod (which is difficult to find outside of Italy), I’ve used salt cod in the recipes in this book. |
| 17. | The texture is different, the flavour is not as pronounced but I think the result is satisfactory. |
| 18. | If you buy whole salt cod, it needs to be desalted and rehydrated for 2–3 days in water, changing the water several times a day. |
| 19. | If you buy fillets of salt cod, 24 hours soaked in water should be enough (don’t forget to change the water several times). |
| 20. | If you buy flaked salt cod, allow 30 minutes or more, depending on the thickness of the pieces. |
| 21. | Otherwise you can buy ready-to-use frozen desalted cod. |
| 22. | POLENTA |
| 23. | To make the polenta, bring the water to the boil, add the salt, then add the polenta in a stream and whisk for 2-3 minutes to prevent lumps from forming (follow the instructions on the packet). |
| 24. | Stir frequently. The polenta should be quite liquid, if not, gradually add more boiling water. |
| 25. | Cook for about 1 hour (or according to packet instructions if you are using a quick-cooking polenta). |
Images and text from
Venice Cult Recipes
(mini) by Laura Zavan,
photography by
Grégoire Kalt. Murdoch
Books, RRP $32.99.