From Russia with Cod

A colorful Russian recipe for cod, from one of the best cookbooks I’ve read in years.

I apologize for the terrible photography.

I may be at risk of overstating this and being a tad dramatic, which I am frequently prone to be, but this Russian recipe for cod is the best I have cooked. End of.

It isn’t a particularly complicated meal, but there are a lot of small, very important instructions, which really maximized the flavor and texture of the fish. It can also be, with the bright, red flare of the vegetables contrasting with the pearly, whiteness of the blackened cod, quite strikingly beautiful.

I cook a lot of white fish, and especially cod, but I am sometimes a bit meh about it. It can often be a little too wet, due to how delicate it is, and not as robust as I would like.

A lot of that is just to do with the quality that is often available in supermarkets here, and yes I know that a market or fishmonger would be better. My problem there is really that the fishmongers here in Belgium are just too expensive, and nothing ruins the taste of a meal more than feeling like you’ve been ripped off.

I do sometimes go to the Friday fish market here, but during the pandemic it has just become such a faff to do so. Which is sad, because I really miss buying their mackerel, whole squid and octopus.

The line to get into the market area due to social distancing regulations is always enormous and I just can’t be bothered waiting there for half an hour. I also don’t particularly want to be in a big crowd of people right now, for obvious reasons.

Before I go on to this recipe I should add that I would actually much prefer to have salt cod, as it is much firmer, less watery, and just has a much more complex, salty flavor. Sadly, it is not that widely available here in Belgium or, really, anywhere I have lived. The only place I managed to have some was when I lived in Geneva, briefly, and also on holidays in Spain. For this recipe, if you can get a big thick piece of salt cod, do so, and just follow the rehydration and cooking instructions of the cod.

The recipe itself comes from a book called “Salt and Time: Recipes from a Russian Kitchen” by Alissa Timoshkina. The book is, honestly, just bloody epic and is definitely one of the best I bought last year, and not just because of her fondness of cabbage, which I 100% endorse, but because of its sublime quality across all fronts.

Timoshkina writes beautifully and evocatively about a food and place I shamefully know relatively little about. So many of the recipes manage to feel at the same time somewhat familiar, due to ingredients or techniques also common to western European cooking, but also at the same time so alien and far removed from typical western food.

One such example is a layered cabbage pie, akin to a lasagna, but using cabbage leaves as a substitute for pasta. I know this is relatively common in eastern European cooking, but it just isn’t something I’ve ever really encountered. Another is a smoked salmon and caviar pie, using pancakes, sour cream and Greek yogurt to make a layered cake similar to the sea food sandwich cake in Swedish cooking.

I haven’t managed to pluck up the courage or find the effort to try either of these yet, but they’re on my list of things to do at some point this year (though that list is likely far too big for one year already).

I have cooked this a few times now and below is the recipe as I last cooked it, which is now quite a bit different from the original, largely due to what is available to me etc. I have cut out the pickles she uses, though I do agree that it is much better to use them. I replaced them simply with thinly sliced chilies. I do think the extra violent bite of the chili is enough, but the real reason is that I was just feeling lazy and the prospect of doing a quick pickle, even if simple, felt beyond me. Though I do recommend to do it with a few quick pickles if you have the time and will.

Ingredients.

• 1 Medium carrot
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 1 Onion
• 1 Tsp sugar
• Tsp white wine vinegar
• Lemon pepper
• 2 Thick pieces of cod, preferably with skin on.
• Small chili thinly sliced
• Garlic and chill flavored olive oil
• 70g Tomato puree.

Method.

1. An hour before you want to cook this meal, take the cod out of the fridge. This will allow it to come to room temperature and ensure a more even cooking. Pat dry with a paper towel to remove the excess liquid. Now salt the exterior of the fish all over. This will ensure that the cod firms up somewhat by drawing out excess liquid and is less likely to break up during cooking.
2. Heat up a pan with olive oil and some butter on a medium heat. The butter will add a lot to the flavour and the olive oil will stop the butter from caramelizing or burning.
3. Whilst this is heating up, finely chop up the vegetables for the puree upon which the fish will eventually be throned.
4. Place the onions in the pan and cook through so that they become soft and translucent, but not coloured or caramelised by the heat.
5. Now add the peppers and carrots and fry gently for 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and dried chili flakes.
6. Now add your tomato puree and around 200ml of water. Cook further for around 5 minutes or until everything is soft. If you need to add more water to prevent it from frying again, please do. This will vary by the surface area of your pan. Do not add too much, however, as it will mean the eventual mixture will be less a ruby seat for the cod, but a pond in which it will sadly sink.
7. Once all the vegetables are soft, remove from the heat and blend, before adding a tea spoon of white wine vinegar for acidity. The mixture should be quite thick, but still considerably smoother and softer than mashed potato. Think of it more as soviet red, scarlet mushy pea.
8. Now, for the fish. Place some more olive oil and butter in a frying pan and heat to a high temperature.
9. At this point pat dry the cod again to remove any further excess liquid which has been extracted by the salt.
10. Here I deviate a bit from the original recipe as I have choose to season the cod differently. I have some lemon pepper, salt, black pepper and more chili flakes, which I rub around the now firmed up cod to give it a light coating (see the first pic above when cooked for an idea). This gives the fish some more color when it fries, with some small blackened and caramelized parts at it’s extremities, which add a lot of additional flavour and texture.
11. Place the fish in a pan and turn the heat down a little from the highest setting. Allow to caramelize on the bottom, only moving the fish to prevent it from sticking. After 4 minutes turn gently with a fish slice or spatula, being extremely careful, so as to avoid breaking up the fish, which can be quite delicate.
12. Cook for a further 4 ish minutes on a medium heat. It may need more or less depending on the thickness of the fish. I like my cod (and all thick white fish) cooked all the way through, so that it is a little chonkier and firmer. If you prefer it softer and flakier, and only warm in the middle, reduce the cooking time by half.
13. Serve the fish on top of the small, fiery, red hill of pureed vegetables. Place the finely chopped raw chilies on top of the cod, if you are using them. I poured a little garlic & chill olive oil over the fish now, but you don’t have to. It gave it a quite pretty shine and shimmer, and a slight garlicky hum, with an additional chili smack. I had some wilted chicory and bread with this and felt it was enough. Though you could add some potatoes to bulk it up a bit.

Well, If you try this, I hope you enjoy it. I also hope at least someone takes a look at the book, as it really is brilliant. I am also not writing this for anything other than my own amusement and record, but if you enjoyed it, then I am glad.

Sam