Buckwheat Cod Meuniere

Following my story “The Sirens of Jerry Cod”, here is my recipe about how to respect the freshest of wild fish; Cod is or rather was a big part of Breton culture. When the green and white boats would leave North Brittany, St Malo, for the cold shores of Newfoundland along the angry Labrador belt. Some men, from the potato and cauliflower growing countryside, would travel to the north coast to make a living and provide for their families but also, to feed a need for adventure the ocean can provide and sell in such great convincing manner, a sense sought after by so many Bretons… Anyway, here it goes with pictures step by step…

You’ll Need:

• A fresh piece of cod on the skin and boned ( 200-300g)
• A handful of buckwheat flour on a plate
• Salt
• Black Pepper

For the Meuniere Sauce ( Mill woman sauce):

• 200g of butter ( go on you good thing!)
• 1 lime
• a bunch of flat leaf parsley

How To:

When you get your hands on fresh fish, the rule number one is respect. Keep it simple; it is delicate, fragile to handle and should be accompanied with simple flavours. Well, when it comes to Cod, less is more, believe me! First, get your preps ready! First, put the handful of buckwheat flour on a plate…

Chop your flatleaf parsley roughly, stick the butter in the pan, zest the lime and Bob is your uncle. The delicate work will start soon so you need to reduce unnecessary stress for yourself…

Get your Cod out there and run your fingers along the fish to make sure the bones have been removed. Your fishmonger will be happy to do that, don’t be afraid to ask! Otherwise, use some twisers, they work great!

Pre-heat the oven at 200c until hot, cover the Cod with the buckwheat flour on both side. Use a hot olive oiled pan and when it starts whispering when you touch the fish, let it go skin side first; fry for about 2 minutes on each side, but be very gentle while turning it. Do not hesitate to use a wide spatula, even two!

When you have done this, you want to put the cod in the oven; it will take less than 10 minutes so be ready and quick! Take a pan and start melting your butter until you reach a “hazelnut” kind of colour… Don’t burn it, don’t go watch TV!

Until it gets to a gentle hazelnut colour… Like this but not brown!

When it gets to that stage, remove from the heat , throw in the chopped parsley and squeeze the juice of a full lime…

Just pour the sauce and gently get the fish out of the oven. Very gently lay the fish skin down. Top with a few chilli flakes and the zest of the lime… Just as it is, well, it is simply amazing, but simple boiled potatoes are just perfect. Serve with a good Sauvignon Blanc or a Chardonnay from the east of France or New Zealand…

So like I said, treat fish with respect… I wrote a song a few years back about these men. It is in French but it goes as such:

“Sixty days without you, sixty days without your smile, some days I die with pain and boredom as the wind carries my sighs …”

Keep well and eat happy,

Franck

Terre Neuve

“Trente jours sans revoir la terre

Trente jours sans revoir ton sourire

Il y a des jours y’a rien à faire

Et au vent se perdent mes soupirs

 

Ce matin on a passe Terre Neuve

Et les baleines que l’on a fait fuir

Ici tant de marins font des veuves

Et au vent se perdent mes soupirs

 

La tempête nous a pris un mat

Et un jeune de ce navire

Au loin reste Bonavista

Et au vent se perdent mes soupires

 

Ar Men je vois tes trois éclats

J’veux quitter cette mer à maudire

Dans trois jours tu seras dans mes bras

Et au vent se perdent mes soupirs

 

Saint Malo s’ouvre au jusant

La maison est longue à venir

L’histoire a fait de moi un content

Et au loin se dessine ton sourire”