Candes Saint-Martin, my favourite spot in La Touraine.

Saturday 24 April 2010

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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6 comments:

Amanda said...

That recipe sounds great too. I love brandade and have made it few times in the US. It might be time to make it again.

chm said...

Sounds really appetizing! Should try this, because I love brandade de morue.

ladybird said...

Nadege and Chm, Right now I'm in the proces of preparing my Brandade. The cod is de-salted, the eggs are boiled, the cauliflower is sitting in salted water and the coppa is slow-roasting in the oven (I thought I'd try that instead of pan-frying it)! Next on my list: peeling and boiling the potatoes ...

Anonymous said...

I've never cooked with morue, but for some reason my DH has it in his head that I must make a brandade. Your recipe will come in handy, but I do want to know if you were happy with it after it's done.

Amanda said...

How was it?

ladybird said...

Dedene, I really recommend this recipe. Just one tip: if you can't get grey shrimps, don't use pink prawns as they don't have the right taste. Rather use some smoked salmon that you cut into 1 by 3 cm strips. You'll HB will love it, and so will you!

Nadège, It was fabulous! I'll post a photo later today. As soon as I get home.