Brandade de Morue – Belgian style

“From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brandade is a puree of salt cod, olive oil and milk, sometimes called Brandade de Morue ('morue' being the French name for salt cod). Brandade is a specialty of the Languedoc and Provence regions of France, particularly Nîmes. Similar preparations are found in other Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Portugal and Spain where dried salt cod is also enjoyed. Although brandade does not necessarily include garlic, in Marseilles and Toulon crushed garlic is added to the dish. Potato is also frequently added to brandade. The word is derived from the Occitan verb brandar, meaning to stir.”

For this Sunday lunch, I will be making a Brandade – Belgian style. Last year I prepared the original version, adding one clove of crushed garlic. This time I want to try something different. My good friend ‘Mr. Google’ provided me with a Belgian recipe supplied by the VLAM (Vlaams Centrum voor Agro- en Visserijmarketing). This regional institute is in charge of the national and international marketing of products and services provided by the Flemish agricultural, horticultural, fishing and agro-food sectors.

Salted cod. This package contains 400 gr. That's far too much
for just two people ... Maybe I should invite the neighbours!

These are the ingredients (serves 4):

200 gr. of salted cod or haddock

500 gr. of potatoes
A handful of fresh chives
1 dl of sour cream
1 dl of lemon juice
100 gr. of grey North Sea shrimps
2 soft-boiled eggs (3 to 4 minutes)
Olive oil
Pepper and salt
8 slices of dried bacon (pancetta or coppa style)
1 small cauliflower

This is what you do:

The evening before: put the salted fish in a large bowl of cold water and let it soak overnight. Change the water at least twice.

The next morning: peel the potatoes, cut them into slices and boil them in salted water until tender. Remove the fish from the bowl and rinse one last time under running water. Let the fish simmer for max. 10 minutes in a large pot of water to which you’ve added some pepper. Don’t let it get to boiling point, as this will harden the fish.

Cut the cauliflower is very small pieces and let them sit for a while in salted water. Next, let them dry on a clean kitchen towel.

Mash the potatoes and add the soft-boiled and peeled eggs. Crush the eggs and add the cod, olive oil, cream, shrimps, lemon juice and some pepper. Stir vigorously until all the ingredients blend together. At this point you can also add a knob of salted butter.

Put the brandade on a plate. Sprinkle the raw, finely chopped cauliflower and chives on top and serve with two slices of cured, pan-fried bacon.

I’ll try and post some photos of the finished dish tomorrow!

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