Saltfish: the Old Ways are Still the Best Ways

In a commercial world which tends to focus on ‘the next big thing’, traditional delicacies can easily be forgotten.

For over a thousand years, salted cod has been a global indulgence, enjoyed by the Vikings of Scandinavia and the dockworkers of Liverpool alike.

Yet it is still hugely popular today and is eaten across South America and throughout Europe too.

Norebo, the Russian fishing giant, has taken note of this demand, and despite the pandemic, spent the last year designing and building a brand-new saltfish factory in their home city of Murmansk.

By marrying modern processing practices with a delicacy that has been passed down through the generations, Norebo is nodding to its twin values of heritage and innovation.

Always popular but never the star of the show, salted cod is poised to become one of the fishing industry’s main attractions.

The Long History of Salted Cod

The Russian word for salted cod, ‘klipfisk’, means ‘cliff-fish’, a reference to the traditional method of drying the cod on a sun-soaked cliff or rock.

In the 17th century, salt produced in Southern Europe began to be exported to northern states like Russia.

As its price fell, salted fish became a staple of the working man and woman’s diet, from Manchester to Moscow.

Nowadays, the cod is first salted, infusing the fish with an intense but delicious flavour.

The whole process gives salted cod a storage life of over two years, and in days gone by, this meant it could be taken on long journeys and traded overseas.

Made in Murmansk

Salted cod may be a well-established delicacy, but Norebo is using state-of-the-art technology to perfect the product.

Its factory is home to an automatic production line, a brine mixing station for the salting, and an ergonomic trimming station to round off the process.

Norebo’s brining process allows it to adjust the saltiness of the fish, meaning that it can offer different products for different tastebuds.

Cod fillets are easy to preserve as their low oil content means that there is very little fat to repel the infusion of saline water.

The Portuguese Tradition

For the Portuguese, salted cod, or ‘bacalhau’, is an institution.

In 1497, the Portuguese navy were sailing around the easternmost tip of Canada, when they discovered an abundance of cod in the waters off the Newfoundland coast.

Dried and salted on the cliffs of the Labrador Sea, bacalhau became the dish of choice for Portuguese sailors and fishermen, who crammed it into the holds of their ships.

Over 500 years later and salted cod is still beloved by the Portuguese.

Walk down the seafront in Porto or visit the famous fishing town of Peniche and you will see thousands of cod fillets drying out on washing lines or rested on wooden racks.

While their approach to thawing the fish is old school, the Portuguese way of cooking bacalhau has evolved over the years.

You can have it ‘a Bras’ with eggs and potatoes, garnished with fresh parsley and garlic, or ‘com Natas’, served in a rich cream sauce, sprinkled with fried onions and olive dust.

Bacalhau can also be enjoyed in a crispy croqueta, called a ‘pasteis de bacalhau’, where the salted cod is mashed with potatoes, eggs, and parsley, before being deep fried until golden brown.

Know Your Roots

The Portuguese alone eat about 55,000 tons of bacalhau a year, with the Spanish running them a close second, and Norebo’s new factory is geared for meeting this demand.

Vitaly Orlov, the company’s founder and a Murmansk native, learnt his trade in the port city and in a nice piece of symmetry, is now its biggest employer and taxpayer.

In Murmansk, salted cod is cooked in a clear broth with onions and carrots, or fried in bay leaves and served on a bed of boiled potatoes, the perfect way for fishermen to warm up after a day on the Barents Sea.

As the pandemic draws to a close, families will no longer be separated, and sacred traditions, like dishing up a sizzling plate of salted cod, can be passed down through the generations once more.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the management of EconoTimes