Salt Cod, Commonly Called "Salt-Fish"

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861
Source
The Book of Household Management
Time
Cook: 60 min Total: 60 min
Yield
0.25 lb per person
Status
success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (3)
Instructions (4)
  1. Wash the fish, and lay it all night in water, with 1/4 pint of vinegar.
  2. When thoroughly soaked, take it out, see that it is perfectly clean, and put it in the fish-kettle with sufficient cold water to cover it.
  3. Heat it gradually, but do not let it boil much, or the fish will be hard.
  4. Skim well, and when done, drain the fish and put it on a napkin garnished with hard-boiled eggs cut in rings.
Original Text
SALT COD, COMMONLY CALLED "SALT-FISH." 233. INGREDIENTS.—Sufficient water to cover the fish. Mode.—Wash the fish, and lay it all night in water, with a 1/4 pint of vinegar. When thoroughly soaked, take it out, see that it is perfectly clean, and put it in the fish-kettle with sufficient cold water to cover it. Heat it gradually, but do not let it boil much, or the fish will be hard. Skim well, and when done, drain the fish and put it on a napkin garnished with hard-boiled eggs cut in rings. Time.—About 1 hour. Average cost, 6d. per lb. Seasonable in the spring. Sufficient for each person, 1/4 lb. Note.—Serve with egg sauce and parsnips. This is an especial dish on Ash Wednesday. PRESERVING COD.—Immediately as the cod are caught, their heads are cut off. They are then opened, cleaned, and salted, when they are stowed away in the hold of the vessel, in beds of five or six yards square, head to tail, with a layer of salt to each layer of fish. When they have lain in this state three or four days, in order that the water may drain from them, they are shifted into a different part of the vessel, and again salted. Here they remain till the vessel is loaded, when they are sometimes cut into thick pieces and packed in barrels for the greater convenience of carriage. COD SOUNDS. Should be well soaked in salt and water, and thoroughly washed before dressing them. They are considered a great delicacy, and may either be broiled, fried, or boiled: if they are boiled, mix a little milk with the water.
Notes