Salt cod

A salt-covered fillet and a chilled, already-soaked portion may carry the same familiar name, but they are not ready for the stove at the same moment. Read the preparation on the label and tell the fishmonger whether your recipe starts with fish still to desalt or with a ready-to-cook piece. This small distinction keeps an apparently quick meal from turning into an unplanned soaking project.

Baccalà is made by salting and maturing cod. Desalted baccalà has then been soaked to remove excess salt. Stockfish follows a different preservation process, air-drying rather than the salt cure described here. Lightly salted frozen cod is another product, so check the label instead of treating every preserved cod fillet as interchangeable.

In the Basilicata preparation with potatoes and peperoni cruschi, the cod starts already desalted. Cook it gently, lift it from the liquid and remove skin and bones before arranging the flakes over warm potatoes. Dress with the pepper-scented oil and add the crisp pepper pieces at the last moment. Keeping the fish soft and the peppers dry preserves the contrast.

Buy pieces of similar thickness when they will cook together. Check whether the fish is sold salted, soaked, chilled or frozen, and whether it still contains skin and bones. For a recipe timed from ready-to-cook baccalà, choose that exact form. If buying salted fish, obtain the supplier’s desalting instructions before setting the serving time.

Follow the storage instructions for the product you bought. Keep chilled, desalted fish refrigerated and covered, respecting the use-by date; keep frozen products frozen until you follow their thawing directions. If desalting at home, follow the supplier’s instructions and keep the fish refrigerated during the soak. Cook promptly once prepared.