Salt cod fritters
Chef: Michael Voumard
Try this with the: Eleanor’s Cottage Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon
Serves: 6
Fritters
Ingredients
500g salt cod
1 bay leaf
5 cloves
1 blade of mace
¼ tsp of black peppercorns
200ml milk
1L water
2 large waxy potatoes
½ cup chopped parsley
3 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
Batter
Ingredients
300ml water
50ml olive oil
1/3 cup plain flour
3 eggs
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground pepper
oil for deep frying
Relish
Ingredients
½ cup medium diced onion
30ml olive oil
1 bay leaf
¼ tsp salt
150ml Prue’s Verjus
300ml tomato purée (or diced tomato in summer)
Method
De-salt the cod; this will take one whole day. Rinse off the excess salt, place the cod in a bowl with 3L of fresh water. Every 2 hours tip off the water, rinse the cod and place it in fresh water. Do this a maximum of 4 times and then place the cod in the fridge overnight.
Drain the cod, rinse it and place it in a saucepan with the bay leaf, cloves, mace, peppercorns, milk and water. Bring it up to the boil, reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Allow the fish to cool and then remove the bones and skin. Flake up the flesh.
Peel the potatoes, slice them and cook in salted water; drain and mash. Add them to the salt cod along with the chopped parsley and garlic.
Place the water and olive oil in a deep saucepan, bring to the boil and then stir in the flour. Remove from the heat and beat in the eggs one by one, add the salt and pepper then stir in the cod mixture.
For the relish, sauté the onions in the olive oil with the bay leaf and the salt until they are golden brown. Add the verjus and the tomato and cook down to a relish consistency.
Deep-fry spoonfuls of the fritter mixture until golden brown. Keep warm on a rack in the oven. Serve with the relish and some bitter salad leaves.