Monday 13 April 2009

Salt cod with fennel and saffron

Back in January I saw these recipes from Skye Gyngell, and thought the salt cod with fennel, tomato and saffron looked fantastic. Then it took me 3 months to find a supplier of salt cod. Everything was lined up to be delicious - tomatoes, onions, fennel, chilli, saffron, white wine and salt cod. I crushed some butterbeans with parsley, lemon juice and garlic. And yet, and yet... It just wasn't there. I think the pieces of cod needed to bake in the sauce for maybe half an hour, maybe longer, in order to have a proper flavour exchange and get to real succulence. As it was, the fish just sat in the sauce without being really connected to it. At least now I know where to get the salt cod, so I can try again.

9 comments:

hungryandfrozen said...

It's a shame when a meal doesn't quiiiiite deliver. It certainly sounds like a nice combination of flavours...Salt cod always makes me think of Forever Summer where Nigella recommends soaking it in the toilet cistern, which put me off a tiny bit...

Sarah said...

Ha ha, wow, I have not seen Forever Summer, but now I have quite a vision of Nigella preparing salt cod! FC, hope you'll tinker with this recipe a bit until it works out. It sounds like it has potential!

Alicia Foodycat said...

Laura - yeah, the cistern thing was offputting!

Sarah - I will. I just think longer cooking is what it really wants!

kat said...

We had salt cod at a restaurant once & loved it but I've never tried cooking it at home.

Heather said...

mmmmmmmm. anything with saffron gets a yes in my book! sounds yummy!

Peter M said...

The sauce on that cod looks dreamy..I adore both fennel and saffron too!

NKP said...

I haven't tried working with salt cod either - but, being just a couple of provinces away from Newfoundland - I do have access to it in the grocery stores.
I admire you for trying it!

Alicia Foodycat said...

Kat - I will usually order it in restaurants when I see it, too!

Heather - I am going through a bit of a saffron phase too. No dish is safe!

Peter - I want to try that salt cod dish you made recently.

Natashya - are there lots of Newfoundland dogs in Newfoundland?

Sam said...

The flavours sound fantastic, it's a shame it didn't quite work out. I hope you'll try this again and post about it.

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