Codfish Serenade (salad).
Inspired by the book Cocina Tropical by Chef José Santaella
Hi, welcome to another post in the section It’s Food o’ Clock, where I share my passion for tasty food, cooking, cookbooks, and food history. If you like my content, I invite you to hit like, leave a comment, share the post, and if you haven’t done so...
People who cook always have dishes they want to recreate. Flavors that bring back memories of childhood, of a restaurant experience, or of that meal that sparked an idea. We seek out flavors from the past and want to prepare and taste them repeatedly to reinforce our memory of them. We put those recipes on the back burner for extended periods until we miss them. We use nostalgia as an ingredient to elevate flavor. Cooks are nostalgic and romantic.
My grandmother from my mom's side was a tremendous cook. She would make this salad with such a taste that, even while not having tasted it in decades, I still remember it. The one I made recently (that inspired this post) took me there, with the assistance of one of my favorite cookbooks. Cocina Tropical by chef José Santaella.
My wife gave me this book as a Christmas present years ago. I often come back to it to seek wisdom often, especially in the Christmas season. It elevates Puerto Rican cuisine to a finer level without losing the connect to, well, grandma, and mom, and our aunts and anyone from our past that we grew eating amazing food from.
(In the video you can hear our dog drinking water.)
Serenata de Bacalao is a simple dish that doesn't pretend to be more than it is. It is basic. Boiled root vegetables and fruits. Shredded salted cod fish (desalted for hours and poached). Boiled eggs. Topped with some kind of vinaigrette or mojo, and some avocado. It feels the stomach. But such a simple plate can be given the uniqueness of our own flavors, and Santaella inspired me to do that with his recipe.
To the previous components you can add your touch of pickled red onion, diced tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, sweet peppers, etc. I drizzled it with an emulsified mix of sushi vinegar, finely chopped culantro or recao (you can also use cilantro), apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and olive oil. I also accompanied it with poached corn. All the family agreed that this meal should be repeated often. I served it at a warm temperature, and the combination of textures (crunchy, starchy, meaty, and creamy) was on point. This is an interesting plate, with a humble origin, which transcends generations and styles.
What is that cookbook or recipe that takes you back to childhood? Let me know in the comments.
Here are some images of the book.
Looks really yummy!