Cod brandade (the authentic one)
The brandade was first made with stockfish — which the Norwegians bartered for the salt they came to get from the Mediterranean salt marshes (the famous “Salt Route”) —, then with dried salt cod (hake ). The recipe was codified for the first time by a certain Durand, a caterer in Nîmes in the 18th century… and does not include any garlic or potatoes!
It is said that President Thiers defined as “a lyrical masterpiece” and was so greedy of it that he had jars of it sent to him from Nîmes… which he devoured in secret in his library! Remember that before being modestly renamed brandade, this preparation was proudly called "branlade", a word which means to stir a lot in old French!
Here is the brandade recipe:
“You have to take a piece of fine hake and soak it in water for twenty-four hours to desalinate it and soften it. Then you put it in a pot, on the fire, with water, observing that you have to remove it when the water begins to boil. You put butter, oil, parsley, garlic, in a saucepan, which you melt over a low heat. During this time, you peel the hake and break it into very small pieces, then put it in the pan, and from time to time you add oil, butter and milk, when you see that it thickens. You stir the pan for a very long time on the fire, which reduces the hake to a kind of cream. This recipe is, as we see, very simple; but we will not stop repeating it, the perfection of the brandades depends above all on the movement imparted for a very long time to the saucepan and which alone operates the extreme division of all the parts of the fish, naturally tough, and transforms it into a kind of cream. So don't get tired of stirring, otherwise you would only have a béchamel instead of a brandade. Besides, a well-made brandade is a delicious stew. »
Recipe taken from the Almanach des Gourmands - Grimod de la Reynière - 1808
