It is not the cod that is fried in a golden batter nor the one that is left to soak to desalt. This year at Christmas the delicacy to be prepared with care is a delicious stockfish, or lo Norwegian skrei, the best dried seasonal Arctic cod since Viking times. Naturally dried (unlike cod preserved in salt and then possibly dried like cod), from February to May hung along the Norwegian coast, near the sea. So what has led to so much confusion? Among the culprits of the incorrect association stockfish = cod, a traditional Venetian dish that we love very much: cod Vicentina! In spite of the name, this dish is traditionally prepared with it soaked stockfish and not with desalted cod as one might think.

Norway Stockfish Cream

Recipe by Andrea Vigna

Ingredients: 500 g Norwegian stockfish already soaked, 500 g yellow onion, 50 g marinated anchovy, 75 cl white wine, sweet, 1 L fresh cream, laurel, extra virgin olive oil

Method

Finely chop the onions and sauté them with the desalted anchovies. Place the lightly floured stockfish and raise the heat, blend with the prosecco and when the alcoholic note has evaporated, add the cream and bay leaf.

Cook over low heat until the fish tend to come apart. Then work it with a whisk until it is a homogenous mixture. Let cool and serve with toasted bread.

Norwegian stockfish in puree with crispy artichoke

Recipe by chefs Cesare Battisti and Luca de Santi of the Ratanà restaurant in Milan

Ingredients for 4: 1 kg Norwegian stockfish already soaked, 1 L milk, 1 L liquid cream, 6 artichokes, 4 potatoes, 1 white onion, sumac, salt, extra virgin olive oil, sunflower oil, White wine, ground black pepper

Method

Clean the artichokes by removing the hardest outer leaves, the thorns and clean the base of the artichoke with a paring knife so that the stem becomes smooth. Keep these scraps aside as they will be used to make a broth. Conclude the cleaning of the artichoke by removing the internal beard with a digger.

Put the artichokes in a vacuum bag (not the stems) and cook them in the oven at 90 ° with steam for 30min. Once ready, cool them in water and ice to stop cooking and prevent them from becoming dark. Once the artichoke has been removed from the ice, we prepare an artichoke puree. Prepare a broth with the leaves and the pieces of waste, putting everything in a liter of lightly salted cold water and let it simmer for 30 minutes and then filter the waste.

Put the cleaned stems that we have set aside in the obtained artichoke water and cook them. Once the stems are cooked, blend everything and pass through a sieve to obtain our artichoke puree. Boil 3 well washed and peeled potatoes in a pot of salted water for about 40min (depending on the size of the potatoes). Once ready, peel them and put the obtained artichoke puree and a quantity of potatoes of the same weight in a blender, blend everything with a little extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt to taste.

In the meantime, preheat the seed oil in a pan at 160 °, take the artichokes that we had vacuum packed, dry them well and immerse them in the oil. Once golden brown, drain well with absorbent paper. Bone and remove the skin from the stockfish, in the meantime, stew the onion and potato well, finely chopped. Add the chunky stockfish, deglaze with the white wine, let it evaporate and cover with the milk and cream. Cook slowly until overcooked. During cooking, pay attention to the liquid, if it decreases, add a little water.

Once ready, drain the stockfish and keep the liquid aside, put the stockfish in a cutter, blend it well adding seed oil and cooking liquid, until the desired density is reached. Season with salt and pepper.

Authentic carnaroli risotto with Norway stockfish with chives

Risotto by Andrea Vigna

Ingredients: 300 g Norwegian stockfish already soaked, 250 g rice, 100 g yellow onion, 100 g celery, 100 g carrots, 1 clove garlic, Grana cheese, fresh chives, White wine

Method

With the skin and the central bone of the fish, prepare a broth with celery and carrots. Finely slice the onions and sauté them with extra virgin olive oil then add the fish, raise the heat and blend with plenty of white wine.

When the alcoholic part has evaporated, lower the heat and cook for at least 20/30 min until everything has dissolved and become homogeneous. In a saucepan, toast the rice, add the fish and cook by adding broth. When cooked, whisk a handful of Parmesan cheese and plenty of chives in oil.

Southern Norway stockfish

Recipe by Simone Rugiati

Ingredients: 50 g dry tomatoes, 20 g capers, 2 artichokes, fresh parsley, olive oil, salt, 600 g Norwegian stockfish already soaked, 40 g black olives

Method

Take the stockfish and cook it in boiling salted water for about 10 minutes, once removed from the water it will be cut into bites.

Clean the artichokes, rub them with the lemon and cut them finely. Combine all the ingredients with the chunky stockfish, season with olive oil and serve.

Lemon potato cream with Norwegian stockfish, confit radicchio and blackberry bacon from Romagna

Ingredients: 1 kg Norwegian stockfish already soaked, 20 g parsley, 10 g fresh rosemary, 2 wedges of garlic, 6 slicespig cheek, 4 potatoes, 4 leavessage, 2 radicchio, 1 leaf laurel, 1 Red pepper, 1 lemon, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, thyme

Method

Cut the radicchio into 3 wedges, place on a baking sheet, add salt, season with thyme, the garlic clove and a drizzle of oil, cover with aluminum foil and bake at 180 ° C for about 20-30 minutes.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into thin slices, put them in water and boil for about 10 minutes. Fill a saucepan with oil and keep at a low temperature. Flavor with garlic, chilli, sage, rosemary, bay leaf, thyme and parsley. Once the oil is flavored, immerse the Norwegian stockfish steak and cook for 10-12 minutes.

Drain the well-cooked potatoes and place them in a container with lemon zest, squeeze the juice of a slice of lemon, a drizzle of oil, the cooking liquid from the potatoes and emulsify everything. Gently remove the Norwegian Stockfish from the oil and drain it on a plate with absorbent paper.

Serve with a potato cream base, place the Norwegian stockfish steak and finish with the radicchio leaves, the slices of blackberry bacon, a sprinkling of pepper and a sprig of thyme.