About This Author
Guten tag! My name is Jessica and I'm 19 years old. I obviously love to write; I have been writing since I was six years old, but I became an avid writer in sixth grade. I also love listening to music and studying history. I am obsessed with Civil War, World War II, Russian, Romanov, German, and Norweigan history. I listen to mostly metal, some country, and grunge.
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Jessica's Guide to Food and Entertaining #840420 added February 4, 2015 at 5:21pm Restrictions: None
Nan's Baccalla
Nan's
Baccal/B>
In
Memory of Evelyn Cavaliere (May 4, 1923- January 25, 2013)
I remember every Christmas Eve
when nan would make this dish. It's salted cod that would be served
as a part of Feast of the Seven Fishes. According to Wikipedia, the
"Feast of the Seven Fishes", a celebration of Christmas Eve
with meals of fish and seafood, but there may be seven, eight, or
even nine specific fishes that are considered traditional. The most
famous dish Southern Italians are known for is baccal(salted cod
fish). Reasons for celebrating with such a simple fish as baccalis
attributed to the greatly impoverished regions of Southern Italy.
Fried smelts, calamari and other types of seafood have been
incorporated into the Christmas Eve dinner over the years.
Most baccaldishes require that
the fish be soaked numerous times to remove excess saltiness. The
word stems from the same root as Portuguese bacalhau, Spanish bacalao
and Greek "????????", which are used in similar
dishes. Despite its name, the baccalalla vicentina, a dish native
to Vicenza, is not made from salted cod, but from dried unsalted cod
(stockfish) served on or next to polenta. In Rome, baccalalla
romana is a dish of deep-fried, battered salt-cod.
HOW
TO PREPARE YOUR BACCAL/B>
When you pick out a piece of
baccalremember that the color of the meat should be close to
white and the skin light colored. Stay away from meat with a yellow
hue.
If sold whole, try to buy a
long, thick fish; if possible it should be a bit more than one-inch
thick in the middle of the filet.
Prior to soaking, cut your
baccalinto large pieces. Cutting the fish before soaking helps
speed up the re-hydration process.
At least two days prior to
cooking (but we recommend 3 days, if you have the time), begin
soaking your salted baccalin fresh water (for at least 36-48
hours). First wash the pieces thoroughly, eliminating all the salt
on the surface, and then completely submerge in any container that
will hold a lot of water; change the water at least three times a
day (every eight hours or even more frequently). While soaking, keep
the baccalin a cool place. Refrigeration is not necessary.
Just before cooking, peel
off the skin and eliminate any bones--a pair of small pliers will
be very helpful for this.
Ingredients:
1
(1/4-ounce) packet dry active yeast
1
cup warm water
4
jumbo eggs
2
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1
3/4 pounds prepared baccal/FONT>
Vegetable
oil for frying
Directions:
In
a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs together with yeast and water. Add
the flour and mix the batter with a fork by hand until it looks like
the consistency of a thick pancake batter. If needed, add a couple
more tablespoons of flour, one at a time. The batter should be thick
enough to coat the fish.
Cover
the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place
for about 1 to 2 hours, or until small air bubbles form on the top of
the batter. This batter takes longer to rise than most recipes
that use dry active yeast because of the addition of the eggs, which
weighs the batter down.
Rinse
the cod for a last time; dry it well and cut into small pieces. The
batter will expand and puff up when fried, so keep the baccalpieces small, about 3/4-inch.
In
a deep frying pan filled with vegetable oil, heat oil to 375?F.
Drop
a handful at a time of baccalpieces into the batter, allowing the
excess to drip off just slightly remove them from the batter and
gently drop the pieces in the oil and cook until golden brown and
crisp, about 5 minutes.
Remove
the fish from the oil, briefly drain on a plate lined with paper
towels. Serve with warmed marinara sauce, lemon wedges, or cocktail
sauce.
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