Brandade de Morue à la Crème

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan
• •Small saucepan for warming the cream
• •9-inch skillet
• •Sturdy wooden spoon
• •Nonreactive soaking bowl

Instructions

1. 1

   Desalt the morue

   Rinse the morue under cold running water, brushing away any loose surface salt. Put it in a nonreactive bowl, cover it generously with cold water, and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours, changing the water three or four times. After 24 hours, poach a small shaving for a minute and taste it: the fish should remain distinctly seasoned but no longer taste fiercely salty. If it does, give it another change of water and several more hours.

2. 2

   Poach and pick

   Drain the soaked morue and place it in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Cover it with fresh cold water by 1 inch (2.5 cm), then bring it slowly to just below a simmer. Lower the heat and poach for 8 to 10 minutes, until the flesh is opaque, separates readily into flakes, and reaches 145°F (63°C) at the thickest part. Never boil it; hard heat tightens the fibers before you ask them to become a paste. Drain well, remove every scrap of skin and bone while the fish is warm, then press the flakes briefly in a clean towel to remove surface water.

3. 3

   Fry the croutons

   Melt half the butter in a 9-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the bread triangles without crowding and fry until deep butter-gold underneath, about 1 to 2 minutes, then turn them and add the remaining butter as the pan dries. Fry the second side until crisp and evenly colored. Transfer the croutons to a rack and leave them uncovered; enclosing warm fried bread softens the crust.

4. 4

   Warm the cream

   Pour the cream into a small saucepan and warm it over low heat until fluid and hot but nowhere near boiling, about 150°F (65°C). A few tiny bubbles may gather at the rim, but the surface should remain still. Hot cream joins warm fish willingly; cold cream seizes the paste, while boiling cream encourages the fat to separate.

5. 5

   Work the brandade

   Return the picked morue to the dry heavy saucepan with the garlic and set it over the lowest heat. Press, smear, and beat it firmly with a wooden spoon for 3 to 5 minutes, until the flakes break into a fibrous paste without taking any color. Add the hot cream one tablespoon at a time, beating until each spoonful disappears completely before adding the next. Keep the pan warm, never hot, and continue until all the cream is incorporated and the brandade is glossy, supple, and thick enough to hold a soft mound. If cream begins to pool or the paste turns grainy, stop adding it and remove the pan from the heat. Beat firmly for 30 seconds. If it still refuses to come together, take one compact spoonful from beneath the pooled cream and beat it smooth in a warm bowl, then feed the loose mixture back into that base one teaspoon at a time. Ça se rattrape.

6. 6

   Season and serve

   Take the pan off the heat and beat in the lemon juice, nutmeg, and white pepper. Taste before reaching for salt, because properly soaked morue usually carries enough of its own. Rinse a shallow serving platter with hot water and dry it, then spoon the brandade into the center and shape it into a generous dome with the back of the spoon. Arrange the butter-fried croutons around it and serve at once, while the paste is warm and yielding. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Morue means cured salt cod, traditionally from Newfoundland or Iceland, not fresh cod sprinkled with salt. Choose a thick, flexible center cut with an ivory surface and a clean sea smell; thin tail pieces become stringy before they desalinate evenly.
• •Use heavy cream with at least 35% fat. Light cream brings more water and less fat to the emulsion, leaving the brandade loose and less stable. This is the cream variation, so the cream has a structural job as well as a generous one.
• •Do not add potato to this formula. Potato belongs to many good household brandades, but the source replaces oil and milk with cream and relies on worked morue for its entire body. Here, the spoon does the thickening.
• •The finished brandade should be warm rather than fiercely hot. Boiling dulls the fish, tightens its fibers, and may split the cream; gentle warmth keeps the paste supple enough to scoop with a crouton.
• •Pour a dry Costières de Nîmes blanc alongside. Its freshness meets the salt and cream cleanly, and its place at the table belongs to the dish rather than being borrowed from another French region.

Advance Preparation

• •Begin soaking the morue 24 to 36 hours before serving, keeping it refrigerated throughout and changing the water three or four times.
• •The morue may be poached, picked free of skin and bones, covered, and refrigerated one day ahead. Warm it gently in the heavy saucepan before beginning the emulsion; cold fish will not take the cream smoothly.
• •The croutons can be fried up to two hours ahead and held uncovered at room temperature. If they soften, warm them for 4 to 5 minutes in a 350°F (180°C) oven.
• •For the finest texture, work the brandade within an hour of serving. It can wait for 20 to 30 minutes in a covered bowl set over barely warm water; beat it briefly before doming it on the platter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 220g)