Day Six: Cod and Other White Fish

Cod

  • A large family with species that live in both freshwater and saltwater

  • Main grouping contains the Atlantic Cod, Pacific Cod, and Greenland Cod

  • Highly Sought After

    • High culinary appeal with snowy white flaky flesh, mild, distinctive flavor

    • Benchmark species in which many other whitefish are compared

    • One of the most important internationally traded food products for centuries

    • One of the most important commercial fish species in N. Europe and the Northeastern US

    • Cod liver also has high culinary value

Identification

  • Cod have an obvious barbel, three dorsal fins, and two anal fins that make this easier to identify.

  • Mature at 2-3 years and live up to 20+ years

  • Most commercial cod come in at about 3-6lbs

  • Farmed cod has taken pressure off the wild population - reaching market size in 24-36 months.

Conservation and Environment

  • Cod are highly sought after and have been overfished

  • Have achieved a “vulnerable” status from IUNC

  • Fishery management, climate change balmec

  • Long-lived species ~20 years

  • Concerned diners will want to know where their fish comes from and how it was caught.t

Wild Cod Parasite

  • Live close to the sea floor in relatively shallow (500ft) waters

  • Farmed cod are not known to have parasites due to the controlled environment in which they are raised in

Culinary Use

  • Good for dry heat and moist heat cooking

  • Grilling is a challenge due to its soft, large flaked, mild but unique-tasting flesh

  • Bones are hard and require the “up-and-over” method of filleting

  • Salted cod is preserved in many countries, such as Portugal, Spain, and Italy, where it’s known as “Baccala.”

  • Traditionally battered and fried in England

History of Atlantic Cod

  • Cod was essential to Norse world exploration by serving as a durable, lightweight, and nutrient-dense, easily preserved food source known as stockfish (dried cod).

  • Known as the fish that changed the world

  • Leif Erikson, the first European (Norse) to discover America around the year 1000, lived and sustained his journeys with salt cod.

  • The cod fisheries were fought for, and trade occurred throughout Europe and America.

Pacific Cod

  • AKA Alaska Cod - managed fisheries

  • Pacific cod is also caught off the Northern West Coast

  • Not farm-raised

  • Comes in 5-15lbs

  • Mild flavor, delicate texture

  • High oil content

  • Good for dry and moist heat cooking

Haddock

  • Northern Europeans saltwater fish

  • Similar in appearance to the Atlantic Cod

  • Haddock farming is on the rise

  • Stronger in flavor and more delicate than cod

  • Up-and-over method

Hake

  • Popular in Spain and Portugal

  • Soft, moist flesh is good for moist heat cooking, curing, and smoking

  • Mild flavor and delicate texture, like other cod family members

  • Smaller, less expensive, used for surimi

  • Up-and-over method

Pollock

  • Found across the globe in cold northern waters

  • Used in processing and institutional cooking

  • Square fish, fish sticks, chopped/formed, frozen fillets

  • Mild tasting, flaky, delicate, like other cod

  • Not farmer

  • Alaska wild (Pacific or Walleye Pollock) is the best choice

  • Up-and-over method

Other “Cod”

  • Ling Cod and black cod (sablefish) are not true cods

  • Both are marketed like cods and may have similar characteristics

  • Black Cod

    • Pacific oceans

    • Straight cut method

    • Farmed and wild

    • Both wild and farmed are sustainable

  • Ling Cog

    • Pacific ocean

    • Up-and-over method

    • Wild only

Other Whitefish

  • Whiting

    • Sustainable and very inexpensive

  • Cusk

    • Overfished

  • Weakfish

    • Depleted and not farmed

  • Wolf Fish

    • Overfished and farmed