Bacalao

Funny where chains of events can lead.

On Thursday, one of the summer intern med-students in the lab was
discussing with another of the techs what she should bring to a going
away luncheon to be held the next day in honor of yet another tech's
imminent departure for Cincinatti or some such wilderness. Anna, the
med-student, is Puerto Rican. She (or maybe it was Sabrina.....of
Italian descent) happened to mention salt cod. Overhearing them, I was
reminded of Mark Kurlansky's book, "Cod: A Biography of the Fish that
Changed the World." The only detail I remembered from reading the book
is that salt cod is still fairly popular in parts of Europe, where the
fish is deeply intwined in the history of the exploration of the New
World and the exploiatation of its resources, and in parts of the the
Caribbean, where it was used extensively as a cheap source of food for
slaves.

Sabrina mentioned that there are a couple of places in the Milwaukee
area where one can still get salt cod, and named one Italian deli not
too far from here. Interested, I filed the information away for
possible future use, which is to say, I forgot about it almost
immediately. Yesterday, when IJ recommended a book to me and JR, it
reminded me of McPhee's "The Founding Fish," and JR's response included
a reference to caviar which reminded me of yet another, "Caviar: The
Strange History and Uncertain Future of the World's Most Coveted
Delicacy," (which, for those who like that sort of thing, I highly
recommend.....um, the book, that is.......I've tried caviar a couple of
times myself and was not surprised to discover that it tastes pretty
much like I expected fish eggs to taste) by the improbably named Inga
Saffron. All of this brought Kurlansky's book and Thursday's
discussion once more to mind.

So, this morning, Becky and I headed out to do some shopping which
included an obligatory stop at a bookstore and there on the clearance
rack (last chance! all books $1.00!) out on the sidewalk was.....yep,
"Cod."

Kismet!, murmurs I.

So, we made one last stop on the way home.....Angelina's deli on North
Avenue. The staff of friendly but woefully undereducated teenagers
smiled as I entered the store but then looked troubled and a bit
apprehensive when I said, "Salt cod?.......I was told I could get some
here." Blank stares, all around. Finally, one of them, with a peaches
and cream complexion that belied the possibility of her knowing
anything about such coarse fare, said, "Ooh! Wait a minute!" and led
me to the corner of the bottom shelf of a cooler and pointed
triumphantly before scurrying back behind the counter.

O.k., here I am, the proud owner of a two pound plank which is
allegedly the flank of a former fish. What to do with it?
Unfortunately, Kurlansky isn't much help. His book is liberally laced
with all kinds of historic recipes, but most of them are bare bones and
unappealing. I can go to the internet, of course. But, I thought I'd
check here first. Anybody ever worked with this stuff?

Wolfgang