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Broiled Salt Cod
Select a moderately thick, fleshy piece of cod that has been boned. Put it on the broiler and broil over hot coals or under a gas flame, letting it brown, but taking care that it does not burn. Lay it in a shallow dish and pour boiling water over and let it stand five or ten minutes, if very salt or if it is liked very much freshened. Pour off this water and put more boiling water on and let it stand another five minutes; take it out on a hot platter, cover generously with butter, dust with pepper, and serve with potato cakes and brown bread or corn muffins or buttered brown-bread toast. Smoked fish, salmon, or halibut may be cooked in the same way.
An old New England breakfast dish that reverses the usual order: the fish is broiled dry first, then soaked to draw out the salt. The method works, but it depends entirely on how heavily the cod was cured.
- Know your salt codHard-cured, board-stiff salt cod is much saltier than the damp, boxed or vacuum-packed fillets sold today. If your piece is pliable and only lightly salted, one boiling-water soak of five minutes is plenty; a bone-dry traditional piece may need the full two soaks and still taste assertive.
- Broiling distance and heatUnder a modern broiler set on high, keep the fish 4-5 inches from the element and expect 3-5 minutes a side. Salt cod browns and scorches faster than fresh fish because there is little surface moisture to buffer it.
- Boning"Boned" means the pin bones and backbone removed. Buy a center-cut loin piece if you can; the thin tail sections dry out and turn stringy under a broiler.
- Why not soak firstThe dry surface is what lets the fish take on color. Soaking beforehand, as in most salt cod recipes, gives you a wet piece that steams rather than broils.
- The soaking waterUse plenty of it, and pour it off completely between changes. Taste a flake before serving; the fish should read seasoned, not saline. There is no fixing it once the butter is on.
- Butter, generouslyThe recipe gives no quantity; something like 2-3 tablespoons per serving piece suits "cover generously." The butter is the sauce, and the dish is thin without it. Skip salt entirely.
- YieldNo yield is given; a thick piece of about 1 1/2 lb would serve three to four with potato cakes and bread.
- The variationsSmoked fish of the period was generally more heavily salted and drier than today's products, and firm enough to stand up to broiling and soaking. Modern cold-smoked salmon is far too delicate for this treatment.