Italiano
Whether you call it stockfish, baccalà or cod, it’s still the same fish. Cod is the fresh fish which can then be dried in the Northern European style typical of Norway’s Lofoten Islands to become stockfish (from the German for ‘spitted fish’) or salted according to Mediterranean traditions to become baccalà (from the Spanish for the smaller varieties of cod that the Portuguese prepare so well). Neapolitan cooks also know how to prepare the two varieties: the tough , woody consistency of stoccafisso needs to be softened in running water for a few days and then beaten and cooked slowly to savour its flavour combined with Mediterranean ingredients. The white flesh and black skin of baccalà also needs to be well rinsed to remove the salt before getting fried in batter or baked with tomatoes, capers and olives.
Mediterranean stockfish:
800 g stockfish
80 g salted anchovies
250 g tinned peeled tomatoes, chopped
a handful of capers and parsley
1 clove of garlic
1 onion
oil, salt and pepper
Finely chop the onion and place in a frying pan with the garlic, parsley and a glass of olive oil and heat over a medium flame. Drain the stockfish, cut it into largish pieces and add to the pan to cook for a few minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper. While the fish is cooking, de-bone and rinse the anchovies and cut them into small pieces, then add them to the pan for the final minute of cooking. Serve hot with a sprinkling of raw capers.
Baccalà fried in batter:
800 g baccalà
salt and oil
150 g plain flour
1 egg white
½ glass of white wine
salt.
Drain the baccalà and cut into largish pieces. Make the batter by mixing the flour with the wine and a pinch of salt until the consistency is that of a dense liquid, then leave for half an hour. Whisk the egg white until stiff and add to the batter.
Dip the baccalà in the batter one piece at a time making sure to cover it well, then fry in a pan of hot oil. Cook the fish for 5 minutes on each side or until it is golden, remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and set on kitchen paper to dry. Add salt and serve. Alternatively, it can be cooked with tomatoes, capers and olives as for the stockfish.
