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Boiled Stockfish

8 servings

Ingredients

• 500 g stockfish, dried
• 100 g potash, unpurified
• water (as needed)
• salt (a little)
• potatoes (as needed)
• melted butter (as needed)
• mustard (as needed)
• water (for sauce) (1 part)
• milk (for sauce) (1 part)
• fish broth (for sauce) (1 part)
• potato flour (a little)

Instructions

1. Dried cod is called stockfish; 500 g is enough for 7-8 people.
2. To soften it, soak it in water for half an hour, then lightly tap it with a wooden hammer, increasing the force until it is pliable but not torn.
3. Afterward, place it in enough soft water to just cover it, and sprinkle 100 g unpurified potash over it; let it sit for 48 hours.
4. Then scale the fish, cut off the fins, divide it into 3-4 pieces, wrap them in a cloth, and place them on a plate at the bottom of a pot with cold soft water.
5. Let the stockfish heat slowly and steep for about 3 hours without boiling.
6. When serving, remove the pieces from the cloth, place them on a hot dish, and sprinkle with fine salt; it is served very hot with potatoes.
7. Melted butter with good mustard is a suitable accompaniment, as is the following sauce: bring one-third water, one-third milk, and one-third fish broth to a boil, season with salt, thicken with potato flour, and finally stir in fresh butter and mustard.
8. Leftovers can be slowly reheated in the stockfish broth.

Modernized from a treasured 19th-century German cookbook.