CookEat Recipe
Baccalà Montebianco
A smooth cold emulsion of salt cod, olive oil and cream, served with fried bread crostini.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 500 g thick salt cod, already fully soaked and desalted, yielding about 340 g after removing skin, bones and tough fibres; 200 g good olive oil for the cod emulsion; 100 ml pasteurized cream; whole milk is an alternative; 160 g white bread, cut into small thin slices; About 3 tablespoons olive oil for frying the bread.
Step 2
Start with 500 g already soaked and desalted salt cod, kept refrigerated at 4°C or colder. If starting with dry salted cod, follow the supplier’s soaking directions under refrigeration, renewing the cold drinking water as directed; typical pieces may need 24–36 hours, and thicker pieces may need longer. Weigh the 500 g only after soaking, not before.
Step 3
Remove every bone, the skin and any stringy tough tissue; the source expects about 340 g clean flesh from the 500 g soaked piece. Pound the cleaned flesh finely in a mortar, or pulse briefly in a food processor, keeping it cold until cooking.
Step 4
Put the pounded fish and cream in a saucepan over gentle to moderate heat. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon until the fish absorbs most of the cream and cooks through, reaching 70°C throughout. Do not brown it or let it scorch.
Step 5
Keep working the mixture with the wooden spoon and add the measured 200 g olive oil in very small portions, allowing each to incorporate before adding more, as for an emulsion. Keep the heat gentle, lifting the pan off if it becomes too hot. Continue until the mixture is fine, smooth and holds the oil without a separated puddle. Do not add potatoes or garlic.
Step 6
Transfer to a shallow container, cool promptly and refrigerate at 4°C or colder until cold, about 1–2 hours depending on depth. Do not leave it on the counter to cool for hours. Fry the bread slices lightly in the separate frying oil, drain and cool. Serve the cold cod emulsion with these crostini around it.
Step 7
For a milk version, replace the 100 ml cream with the same amount of whole milk and use the same stirring and gradual oil method. As an alternative accompaniment, replace the fried bread with about 15 g cleaned food-grade fresh truffle sliced very thinly. Another source option is caviar crostini: work 40 g commercially prepared ready-to-eat pasteurized caviar with 40 g softened butter, spread over about 100 g small soft white-bread squares and keep refrigerated until serving with the cold cod.
Cooked it? Rate it.
Cooked 0 times