Salted Cod. Makes your skin crawl at the thought doesn't it? At least, if you're a non scandinavian. The tamer, more personable cousin to lutefisk, salt cod is a staple in many Norwegian homes, and some swedish ones as well. Come to think of it, just about every european country on the sea has it's own version of salted cod. The Spanish have quite the reputation for very fine salt cod, but the Norwegians have the corner market on the best. As it has been done for over 500 years, the fish are pulled from the sea, beheaded, and gutted. Once on shore, they are salted an dried. Simple, eh? Only overfishing has caused cod to become harder to get a hold of, so unless you buy the most expensive version - klippfisk - you will probably be getting some other whitefish, which is fine. I would love to get my hands on some klippfisk though. It would drive my husband nutty - in the bad way. He can't grasp my desire to eat so much fish. Actually, neither can my parents, kids, sisters and most of my cousins. Hmm. Guess I'm concentrated Scandi. :D Anyhow, the Klippfisk is graded superior extra which means it's been line caught - so it's alive when they bleed it, and you KNOW it's super fresh, and wasn't dead when they hauled it from the sea. It's then fileted and salted with DRY salt, left to rest, and salted again.
Sounds downright mouthwatering right? Well, wait. I'll cover lutefisk another day. Just be aware that I started you with the tamer, kinder little brother.
There is no recipe that I know of. All I know is that you soak it, drain it, and simmer it. I suppose telling you not to salt the water is kind of a 'duhr', huh? Anyhow. Some folks like to throw in their small potatoes, carrots, and parsnips with the fish. I think that's overkill. 2 pots, I say. Use one for the veggies, another for the fish. You can make a white gravy to go with it, but I think that little bit of white, mostly flavorless goo does nothing to help. A little white pepper and potato and bada bing. That's some good stuff. Filling, and hearty. Oh, and if you can find a reliable source for that klippfisk, let me know. I have been searching!
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