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Creamed salt cod with garlic and parsley
Serves 3-4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 450g salt cod, cut into chunks (ask your fishmonger to do this)
- 6 black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cloves
- 600ml semi-skimmed milk
- 4 garlic cloves
- 120ml extra virgin olive oil
- 2tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Method
Put the salt cod in a bowl of cold water and leave to soak for 48 hours, changing the water at least four times a day. Do not cut down on the 2 days’ soaking, as some recipes suggest; you’ll have a tough and unpleasantly salty piece of fish.
Put the soaked salt cod, skin side up, in a sauté pan with the peppercorns, bay leaf and cloves. Cover with the milk and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes, until soft through the thickest part, then lift the fish out onto a board until cool enough to handle. Remove the skin and bones from the fish and return to the cooking milk. Put the salt cod flesh in a large pestle and mortar or heavy bowl.
Meanwhile, transfer 120ml of the cooking milk to a small saucepan, add the garlic and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the garlic and milk to the fish and pound until the salt cod is broken up, if necessary adding a couple of tablespoons more of the cooking milk.
Gradually add the oil in a thin stream, as you would for a mayonnaise. Season with pepper and mix in the parsley. The mixture should be quite thick, like mashed – rather than puréed – potatoes. Check the seasoning and serve with ciabatta.
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