Backfisch mit Kartoffelsalat

Backfisch belongs to the northern coast, the harbor Imbiss, the Friday table, and the fairground paper cone when the fish is good and the fryer is honest. Cod, haddock, or pollock go into a beer batter and straight into hot fat, then land beside potato salad with enough vinegar to wake the plate up. This is weeknight food if you set yourself up properly. Das ist kein Bierzelt.

Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. The north will often put mayonnaise, pickle, apple, and egg into the Kartoffelsalat, potato salad, because the cold salad sits well beside hot fish. The south argues for warm potatoes in broth, vinegar, and oil, no mayonnaise at all. For Backfisch I keep the salad northern and sharp, not sweet and heavy, because fried fish needs acid more than it needs another layer of fat.

The technique that decides it is simple: dry fish, cold batter, hot steady oil. Water on the fish turns to steam inside the coating and lifts the batter off. Warm batter drinks fat before it sets. Oil below 175C gives you a greasy coat, oil too hot browns the outside before the cod flakes. Erst verstehen, dann kochen.

Use the fish trim for stock if you've got bones and skin from the fishmonger. Weggeworfen wird nichts. But don't reach for a packet coating or a jar of sweet sauce. Nicht aus dem Glas. A spoon of mustard, chopped pickle, and good oil do more honest work than a shelf bottle ever will.