Brandade de morue is a salt cod dish from the French Mediterranean coast. This very traditional preparation involves gently simmering the salt cod in milk, then mixing it with garlic, olive oil and cream. We add a bit of potato to the mixture (a particularity that comes from the Provençal city of Nîmes, which accounts for the name of our version), then gratinée the top of the puree with a bit of grated Parmesan cheese and serve it hot with grilled country bread and marinated olives.
Brandade Nîmoise is on the menu at Le Pichet and Cafe Presse seasonally, generally during the cold months of winter; it is a hearty, warming dish.
Serves 6 as an appetizer
Brandade Nîmoise
Ingredients
To cook the salt cod
- 4# Salt cod filet
- Milk
- 2 Carrots
- 1 Onion
- 3 Garlic
- 2 Thyme sprigs
- 2 Bay Leaves
To finish the brandade
- 3 cups Olive oil (appx)
- 3 cups Cream (appx)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 3# large Russets
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Nutmeg
- Cayenne pepper
- 2 tab Lemon Juice
- Grated Parmesan
Note
This is a restaurant sized recipe, a quarter batch with 1# saltcod will easily feed 4 as a main course to 8 as a starter.
Preparation
- Rinse the cod in running cold water. Soak the cod in cold water for at least 2 days, changing the water daily.
- To cook the cod: Peel and half the carrots and onions. Peel the garlic and remove the germ. Place the cod filets in a large pan with the carrots, onions, garlic, thyme sprigs and bay. Cover with milk, then a small plate (to keep the fish submerged) and bring to a simmer. Cook slowly until the cod is very tender (about 15 minutes).
- While the cod is cooking, peel and quarter the russets, then boil in water until soft like for potato puree. Drain well, and then dry in the oven on a sheet pan for a few minutes. Pass through the food mill. Hold warm until ready to use.
- Also while the cod is cooking, warm olive oil and cream in separate pans. Do not boil; They need only be warm.
- Drain the cod and discard the herbs, onions and carrots. Put the cod and cooked garlic in the bowl of the kitchen-aid with a paddle. Finely chop the raw garlic and add to the bowl.
- With the mixer running, slowly add warm oil and cream in turns until a thick purée is achieved. It should have the consistency of thick aioli. At this stage, it should be a little wetter than the final brandade, as the potato will thicken it a bit.
- Fold in the potato pulp by hand. Mix well. Season with salt, black pepper, nutmeg and cayenne. Stem and chop the thyme and add to the mix. Add lemon juice to taste. You should taste the thyme, garlic, lemon and nutmeg but none should overpower the others.
- Turn the brandade into one large or individual baking dishes. Top with grated parmesan and cook under a hot broiler until golden and crusty. Serve immediately .
It seems such a waste to discard the milk, I used it to make a fisherman’s pie and thickened it with a roux and added smoked haddock, prawns and fresh cod folded in and baked it with mash on the top. A British classic and a French classic 2 for 1 if you will.
I had not tried that as I am generally afraid that the milk will be too salty…good idea!