Brandade de Morue

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •2-quart heavy saucepan
• •Small saucepan for the milk
• •Fine sieve
• •Sturdy wooden spoon
• •Heatproof measuring jug
• •10-inch skillet
• •Warm shallow serving bowl

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the morue

   Put the well-soaked morue in a 2-quart saucepan and cover it with the cold water. Bring the water slowly to the boil over medium heat. The instant it begins to boil, start an eight-minute timer and lower the heat just enough to prevent the pieces from being knocked about. At the end, the fish should be opaque and separate readily into moist flakes.

   The eight minutes begin when the water first boils, not when the pan goes onto the stove. That timing comes directly from the formula and gives the thick pieces time to cook through.
2. 2

   Clean it warm

   Drain the morue thoroughly in a sieve. As soon as it is cool enough to handle, remove every piece of skin and every bone, feeling through the flakes with your fingertips. Press gently against the sieve to shed trapped water without squeezing the fish dry. Water left in the flakes weakens the emulsion; a little natural moisture keeps the paste tender.

3. 3

   Warm the liquids

   Measure the larger quantity of olive oil into a heatproof jug and stand the jug in a bowl of hot tap water until the oil feels pleasantly warm. Bring the milk just to the boil in a small saucepan, then hold it over the lowest heat. Keep the two liquids separate and within reach. Once the stirring begins, you should not need to abandon the pan to find anything.

4. 4

   Shred over brisk heat

   Heat the smaller quantity of olive oil in a sturdy saucepan over medium-high heat until it shimmers and gives the first faint sign of smoke. Add the drained morue and crushed garlic. Stir hard with a wooden spoon over brisk heat for 3 to 5 minutes, crushing the fish against the pan until it is reduced to fine shreds and gathers into a hot, rough paste. Keep scraping the bottom so the garlic cannot catch.

5. 5

   Build the emulsion

   Take the saucepan off the heat and set it on a folded towel so it cannot skate. Stir without stopping as you add the warm olive oil one teaspoon at a time, beating each addition fully into the fish before the next. Once the paste accepts the oil readily, pour in a thread no wider than kitchen string. Whenever the brandade stiffens, beat in a tablespoonful of boiling milk, then return to the oil. Reserve the final tablespoon of milk for correcting the texture. If beads of free oil appear or the paste turns greasy, stop. Ça se rattrape: put one tablespoon of the measured boiling milk in a clean, warmed bowl, then beat in the broken brandade one spoonful at a time until it comes together again. Never chase a split emulsion with more oil.

   Warmth and patience do the work. Cold ingredients or a bold pour of oil ask the fish to absorb more fat than it can hold, and that is when the emulsion breaks.
6. 6

   Correct the texture

   Beat in the reserved hot milk. The finished brandade should resemble an ordinary potato purée in consistency, holding soft ridges and falling from the spoon in a mound rather than pouring. Taste before adding salt because morue carries its own. If the paste is too stiff, loosen it with a teaspoon of hot milk; if it is loose but not oily, beat it vigorously for another minute. Keep it warm in a bain-marie (warm-water bath) while you fry the bread.

7. 7

   Fry the bread

   Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat just before serving. Add the bread triangles and fry them on both sides until crisp and evenly butter-gold, adjusting the heat if the butter begins to darken. Drain briefly on a clean towel, but do not let them go cold.

8. 8

   Dome and serve

   Spoon the warm brandade into a heated serving bowl and build it into a generous dome or modest pyramid, leaving the spoon marks visible. Set the butter-fried triangles upright around the crown and serve at once while the emulsion is supple and the bread is crisp. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use only properly soaked Icelandic or Newfoundland morue for this formula. Thick, firm pieces give a fuller paste than thin scraps, and careful soaking removes the excess salt without washing away the fish's character.
• •Choose an olive oil that tastes round and mild rather than aggressively bitter or peppery. The quantity is generous, and every rough edge in the oil will be magnified in the finished brandade.
• •No potato here. Potato makes many pleasant household brandades, but in this entry it would dilute the salt cod emulsion and alter the book's carefully held proportions.
• •A food processor is not the honest equivalent of the wooden spoon. Its blades turn the fish fibers into a uniform paste before the emulsion has been properly worked; use a sturdy spoon and let the texture remain alive.
• •The book permits pale puff-pastry lozenges in place of the butter-fried bread. Cut 8 small diamonds and bake them until fully risen but scarcely colored, then arrange them around the dome.
• •Pour a dry Costières de Nîmes blanc or a bright Picpoul de Pinet. Both have enough freshness for the olive oil and enough southern sun in their character to belong beside the dish.

Advance Preparation

• •If starting with dry salt cod, soak it under refrigeration for 24 to 36 hours, changing the cold water every 6 to 8 hours. Very thick pieces may need 48 hours. Test the desalting by simmering a small flake and tasting it; if it remains harshly salty, continue soaking.
• •The brandade may be completed up to one day ahead, covered, and refrigerated. Reheat it very gently in a bain-marie, stirring steadily; if it has tightened, restore its suppleness with a teaspoon or two of hot milk.
• •The bread can be trimmed and cut earlier in the day, but fry it only when the brandade is ready. The crisp crown is part of the pleasure, not decoration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 140g)