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Several years ago, I went to dinner with a couple of chef-friends who ordered salt cod brandade. At the time, I still had my college palate of pizza by the slice and 4 am Chinese food, so salt cod sounded absolutely disgusting, and I had no idea what the hell "brandade" was.
They told me to try it. With a crinkled nose, I did, expecting some strange slimy fishy concoction. However, after that first bite of salty, creamy, flaky deliciousness, I abandoned the roast chicken I had ordered and pretty much polished the salt cod brandade off by myself.
Brandade is a French preparation for salt cod, but in the last few months, I have been introduced to the Spanish preparation - croquetas de bacalao. Bacalao is the Spanish word for salt cod, and the croquetas are small cakes made from salt cod and potatoes, fried, and served as tapas.
I've had a mind to make the croquetas at home, but I'll be honest, who the hell has time to soak a giant fillet of dried cod in a water-plus-milk bath over the course of three days, changing the soaking liquid every four to six hours to remove the salt?! Not me, so I seek it out at restaurants. Portuguese and Italian cuisines have similar things, but my favorites are at LA's Cobras & Matadors and Cobra Lily. They are ping pong balls of creamy cod and potato, flattened into chubby little cakes, lightly fried to a golden angleic crisp. Served with ivory silk aioli, and punchy tart little capers, I could eat a dozen of them.
All washed down with a pitcher of sangria of course.
Cobras & Matadors
7615 West Beverly Boulevard (between Stanley and Curson)
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323.932.6178
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10-27-2005 @1:54PM Jamie said... Even Elizabeth David describes brandade as probably too much trouble to go to. But I made it at home (using a combination of her advice and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's) and it wasn't difficult at all--just a little athletic. Pound, pound, pound with the pestle!
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