Salt Cod with Onions, Cream and Polenta
Dad always made this at Christmas with any baccalà (salt cod) he hadn’t sold in the deli. He
always hoped he wouldn’t sell it all as this dish reminded him of his mother, and the recipe
continues to be made in the same way two generations later. No one much liked it at home
except Dad and me, so it is quite a special dish for me too. My mother-in-law cooks baccalà in a
tomato sauce, and while excellent this way just reminds me of Dad.
Baccalà is cod that has been preserved by salting and is certainly not a new thing. It’s well
known in the Caribbean where British ships would carry salt cod, and also in Portugal and its
colonies such as Brazil, where it is called baccalao.
In Italy, different regions favour different sizes and shapes and thicknesses of baccalà. I
saw a documentary on it once and it was so confusing that I took none of it in. Suffice to say
that in Britain you can usually only get good baccalà from an Italian deli at Christmas, or from
Portuguese or West Indian shops.
Baccalà is really hard and tough. We used to cut it in the shop with a hacksaw. Try and buy
it in manageable pieces that will fit into a bowl for soaking. Otherwise you might end up trying
to cut it with the rusty saw from your tool box!
This isn’t a dish you can do at the last minute, you need to prepare the fish the day before –
but it is worth it as it’s really tasty.
Ingredients:
400 g baccalà (salt cod)
milk
1 bay leaf
flour
olive oil
2 golden onions, sliced
1 tablespoon capers in vinegar, drained
500 ml double cream
freshly ground black pepper
‘instant’ polenta to serve
The morning before required, wash the fish in slowly running water for 10 minutes and then
put it to soak, first in water, changing the water at least once, and then to soak overnight in the
fridge, this time in milk with a bay leaf. Make sure the fish is covered – a sealable container is
ideal.
The next day, take the fish from the milk and cut into large cubes, removing any bones you
find. Dust the pieces of fish with flour and fry in hot olive oil until lightly browned, then remove.
Fry the onion until golden, then turn down the heat and return the fish to the pan. Add the
capers, season with black pepper and pour in the double cream, allowing the dish to slowly heat
through and the flavours to mix while you prepare the polenta according to the instructions on
the packet.
This dish could be served with good crusty ‘campagnolo’ bread or potatoes instead of
polenta, but not with rice, which will simply absorb all the cream sauce.
*taken from the book ‘From Seed to plate’ by Paolo Arrigo, published by Simon and Schuster