Home › The Principles of Cookery › Cod, Head and Shoulders Of
Cod, Head and Shoulders Of
Wash the fish thoroughly, rub a little salt on the inside of it, and bind tape round the cheeks to prevent them breaking. If the fish is crimped, it may be plunged into hot water, if not, cold must be used, but it must be poured very gently over the cod so as not to break the skin. A table-spoonful of salt should be allowed for every three quarts of water. As soon as the water boils, draw the kettle on one side, remove the scum carefully, and let the fish simmer gently till it is ready. Drain it well, and serve on a hot napkin with the roe and liver, which should be cooked separately, and a little horse-radish and sliced lemon for garnish. When the flesh parts easily from the bone the fish is ready. Send oyster or anchovy sauce and melted butter to table with it. The time to boil will depend on the size, quality, and age of the fish; a small, young head and shoulders will not require more than twenty minutes; and a large, old, solid one may take forty. Probable cost, 8d. or 10d. per pound. Sufficient for six or seven persons.
A Victorian boiled-fish recipe that works well once you know what the cut is and how gently "boil" was meant. The whole thing turns on keeping the water below a true boil.
- The cut"Head and shoulders" is the front third of a large cod, head on, cut through behind the pectoral fins. Almost no fishmonger sells it now; order it ahead, or substitute a 3–4 lb thick loin section, in which case the cheeks and tape are irrelevant.
- CrimpedCrimping meant slashing a very fresh fish to the bone at intervals and dropping it into cold water, which contracts the flesh and makes it firm. Fish bought a day or more from the boat is not crimped, hence the instruction to start it in cold water.
- Tape round the cheeksPlain cotton kitchen string, or a wrap of muslin tied loosely, does the same job. The cheek muscle is the best eating on the head and pulls away from the bone as it cooks.
- Never let it boilNever let it gallop -- "As soon as the water boils, draw the kettle on one side" is the hinge: the water is brought up to the boil and then pulled back. Cod at a rolling boil sheds its skin, clouds the surface with coagulated albumin and goes cottony. Once the fish is in, keep the water barely trembling, around 170-180F.
- The saltA tablespoon to three quarts is a light hand by current practice, roughly half a per cent, far below seawater strength. If you want the flesh seasoned rather than merely not bland, double or triple it.
- Timing and donenessTwenty to forty minutes is realistic for a bone-in head and shoulders at a bare simmer, but judge by the book's own test: the flesh parts cleanly from the bone. A boneless loin section will be done in appreciably less time; the same test applies.
- VesselA fish kettle with a lifting trivet is what is assumed; a deep roasting pan works if you sling the fish in a doubled sheet of muslin so you can lift it out without breaking it.
- Roe and liverCod roe can be had frozen or tinned; the liver almost never appears at retail. Neither is essential, though poached roe sliced and browned in butter is worth having if you can get it.
- Hot napkinA folded linen cloth laid on the hot platter, to absorb the water that keeps draining from boiled fish. A wire rack over the platter, or simply a longer drain, achieves the same end.
- YieldSix or seven as stated, as a main course, with the melted butter and either oyster or anchovy sauce sent separately as the recipe directs.
Boiled cod was a fixture of the British winter table, and the head and shoulders was generally treated as the choice cut — the thickest flesh, the gelatinous skin, the cheeks and the tongue all in one piece, which is why Cassell's treats it as a dish in its own right rather than as a scrap. Rail transport and, later, steam trawling were bringing North Sea cod inland in quantity over this period. Crimping, described here in passing, belonged to the same world: it only works on fish killed within hours, which may be why the book offers it as an option rather than the rule. The accompaniments are of their period — oyster sauce was a standard partner for boiled cod, and anchovy sauce stood in when oysters were not to be had.