Buljol, a traditional Trinidad & Tobago saltfish dish
For centuries saltfish has been imported to the Caribbean. It is one of those items that's highly sought-after by many home cooks and it is an integral part of Caribbean cuisine. Each household has a favourite way of preparing this cured ingredient. Saltfish is so highly prized and important to us that in some countries, it makes up the national dish, such as Jamaica, where Ackee & Saltfish is the national dish. Click here for more and to find out how some other Caribbean countries cook saltfish.
Saltfish - Cod
Growing up, I never liked saltfish and only started cooking it when I moved to Barbados. For more, click here and read the column.
All the recipes are available upon request. All the dishes here are some of the favourite ways to cook saltfish.
Fried (sauteed) Saltfish & Okras
Fried (sauteed) saltfish with onions and tomatoes
Dhal, rice and fried saltfish with okras
52 comments:
I've been busy for a while and have come back to find all these excellent recipes! We eat a lot of salt fish, too, and there is a kind of curry very popular during rainy weather, with salt fish (karuvadu) and dried field beans (mochakottai). Real comfort food. I must try your cornmeal coucou as well; I love polenta and it looks quite similar but with a Caribbean twist.
You know, a long time ago, salted fish or salted herring were the most important food in Sweden. Preservation of food couldn´t be done without salt. (No refridgerators in Sweden until 1950-1960 or so).
We still have salted herring, and salted and fermented Baltic herring. (Now considered a delicacy). Well, fermented herring; either you like it or you hate it. It´s not tasting as bad as it smells.
The rice dish on top looks really pretty and tasty.
Oh yes, I remember saltfish! You are just taking me back to "my Caribbean days" here; between this and the recent soursop post, I'm salivating!
I especially like the looks of it with the onions and tomatoes...
I am not a fan Sea food but love the the dishes look and I am in love with the first bowl and the last serving plate.Very pretty!:)
Thank you for sharing the informative and tantalizing dishes made from saltfish... Keep up the good work. We love your blog.
Cynthia,
We are vegetarians and hence will not be able to justice to those recipes but I couldn't resist myself from leaving a line saying how good each of them look. Lovely photography babe. Have a nice weekend.
Hi Cynthia!
I love eating salt fish, usually called 'Snouek' fish here. We usually eat it in a sort of tomato sauce called 'Rougaille'=)
All your salt fish dishes look really delicious, you're a great photographer by the way!
I was just admiring the way you presented Cynthia. Eye catching. Viji
Hi Cynthia! great recipes. Never heard about fish with veggies. But here all the recipes looks delicious and yummy. I want to try those recipes. Thanks for sharing.
Those dishes you have used for presentation are cute.
Hi Cynthia, first time in your blog.. and it was love at first sight :) I have never tried salt fish, that pictures are so appealing that I am craving for some!
What lovely pictures. I don't eat salt fish but your pics are tempting me.
I think that I will enjoy that. It's really interesting to read about the different cuisine around the world. My mom makes different stuff with salted fish, like curry and stir fried veggies, but I never bothered to see how she does it all. I recall her soaking the fish when she makes the curry though. I wish I paid more attention!
Hi Hon,
THis post is sooo interesting. I'm guessing that what you call Saltfish is what the Spanish, Italians and Portuguese call Bacalao. And, you're so right, there are a milliion ways to cook it. Penelope Casas in "The Food and Wines of Spain" adds it to a rice dish which she serves with potatoes(!), she has a wonderful Tortilla recipe with Bacalao and also a Basque dish where it's cooked with a really flavorful red pepper and bacon sauce. Great work, Cynthia.
This is so cool! I didn't know that this was a caribbean staple. How cool to see this! For us Italians it is known as baccala usually cooked with a tomato based sauce and we eat it on Christmas Eve (as well as other times of year...)
hi
cynthia
i discovered your blog today,great blog , i saw a program called planet food on Tele it had caribbean food in it , i got to know so much about it and now i see these caribbean dish in your blog. i will be reading your blog from the beginning .
you take great food photographs.
bye
My mom would fry the salted fish pieces and we would eat them with rice porridge or she would stir fry small pieces of it with bean sprouts :)
Oh my goodness, Cynthia! I want to taste all of these! One of my fave was Ackee & Saltfish. Unfortunately, there's nowhere to buy Ackee here in Jersey. :(
I'm so glad you featured salted fish, scary word for most westerners here :) Another great chinese recipe to share with you here : Stir-fry bean sprouts/big head sprouts with shredded ginger, oyster sauce and crispy salted fish bits. Excellent with steamed rice :)
P/S: I mentioned about the murtabak bread with potato and peas stuffings sometime back, I'm sorry, I don't have the recipe, but I'll definitely look it up when in my upcoming trip to Malaysia. Will keep you posted.
Cheese with a spoon - I figured that you were busy when I did not see you around. You were missed!
I find that most dishes made with saltfish are invariably comfort foods.
Can't wait to hear the verdict when you try the cou cou. :)
Karin - Same situation down here in terms of preservation. We also have smoked herring which is really delicious.
Kelly - it is :) thank you.
Asha, Viji, Suganya, Sra - my supporters, I thank you sincerely. Hugs.
Anonymous - thank you! I wish I knew who we were :)
Seema - thank you darling. You are a true friend.
Valentina - thank you! You are pretty amazing yourself!
Cinnamon - a very warm welcome to you and thank you for your kind compliments. They are deeply appreciated. I saw your blog this morning and it was the same for me - love at first sight. :)
Nora - we soak it too before cooking it.
Sue - I have to get that book! Thanks Sue honey for pointing it out. I'm off to Amazon right now :) Your continued supports means a lot.
Jenn - on Christmas eve eh?! Got to get that recipe.
Mahek - Thank you very much and welcome! Please make yourself comfortable and take your time looking around. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Pamela/Cooking Ninja - reading your comment makes me happy.
Mae - Honey I have missed seeing you around here. Got to see what you have been up to too. It's a pity you can't get the Ackee there in NJ. It is expensive here in Barbados.
Melting Wok - yeah a couple of bloggers mentioned a similar dish. Sounds soooo good.
Thanks in advance for checking out that recipe for me. I would like to try it. Have a good trip. I know you all excited :)
I learn to eat salt fish in Portugal,ahd I like so much.Sometimes I do cod salted in Portugal had 365 ways to do cod,and I learn some recipes. Your disho looks absoluty tastiy and pretty
Cynthia, my favourite way to have this is with bake (fried dumplings), first the saltfish is sauteed with onions, chillies and tomatoes and then served in a freshly made "bake".
Salt fish is very hard to find here in Australia, we have bacala which is similar but not quite as nice as the saltfish in Guyana. great post.. oh i didnt realise saltfish was imported to the west indies, i have realtives on the East Coast of Demerara who makes it for the export market.
Lovely! We have some saltfish dishes in Malaysia as well. Your saltfish and okras look lovely! We can't get okras over here and you've just given me a craving ;-)
ps. If you'd like to do a tag, I've just tagged you ;-)
Looks delicious. Great work.:)
But as Asha say I m also not like to eat. I love your presentation my dear.:)
I originally come from Newfoundland, Canada where salt cod is also an integral part of the local diet. I have several favorite recipes using salt fish too! Love it!
Salted cod plays an important part here in Brazil, too, Cynthia - Portuguese influence, after all.
It's a big tradition to cook it for Easter's lunch.
Your recipes look delicious!
Hi Cynthia, I was just this week thinking of trying saltfish and was wondering were I could find it here in town. Your discription of your first taste now has me really wanting to give it a go. Thanks!!!
This looks so good Cynthia. Will have to check out this salt fish stuff
East Bengal have popular recipes with dried salted fish but I have never tatsed them
Hey, your salt fish dishes have inspired me to use the dried salt fish I brought from Malaysia to Switzerland. Thanks!
I did read your column and post last saturday itself but thought would comment in detail later..... I dont think I have tasted salt fish ever....need to check that out first before I ask you for the recipe....buljol and the one with onions and tomatoes look yummy.....also I liked your serving platter in the last pic, it reminded me of the stainless steel platter my grandma gifted me when i was a kid, with my name embossed on it...:)
Shn
Lovely presentation.....Lovvely dish......so good....Love it..
it was so nice to read your column,cyn.
In Asia, salted fish is usually used to flavor fried rice, or sometimes even in soups. I wonder how kind of salted fish variety is that ? You call your salt fish sweet, that's so nice and humorous of you :D
I love salt-fish...hmmmaahh!! My native is a coastal area(India) where we find salt fish in abundant. I like the taste of Dried, Salt Kingfish with Dhal and rice-a great combination. In India, salt fish are dried ones, I donno if its the same at ur place too. I was not able to bring those from India, coz of security checks at the airport. Your recipe with okra is different.
As of me I am a new,budding blogger, if time permits do visit me at http://padmaskitchen.blogspot.com
Cynthia the dish is making me drool here. I should visit a Jamaican grocery store and find some Salt Fish! The fish looks so soft and flaky, oh my I want to taste it.
Scream! Oh Cynthia, I can't get hold of any salt fish. Tried a few places today. We can't do Caribbean cuisine and not eat salt fish. I know we've had it for real when we visited but I wanted to prepare and cook something with it. I need to step up my investigation skills. I'll e-mail you when I manage to find some as would love some of these recipes.
I don't think I've ever had salt fish but now I really want to try it!
What was it like living in Barbados?
Ari (Baking and Books)
I will only have the dal and rice... I'm a vegetarian...:)
Oh oh salt cod, i love it!!! Yours look very good...
Wow Cintia..I'm drooling over that saltfish with okra..Nice job dear..
Sylvia - 365 days! wow! Thanks for stopping by hon.
Nicola - as you well know, it is one of the favourite ways to eat saltfish - with bakes!
A lot of saltfish is still imported to the region. I know that Guyana makes its own in addition to the imported stuff.
Wok and Spoon - thank you! What a pity you can't get okras there.
Thanks for the tag, I promise that I will get around to it :)
Kajal - thank you for still taking the time to visit. It is deeply appreciated.
Janet - Oh yes! That's where most of our imported saltfish comes from - Canada.
Patricia - thank you my friend, always good to see you.
Sandeepa - please check it out and it is so good to have you back.
Argus Thanks and a very warm welcome to you. Please come back and visit again, when you can.
Shn - with your name embossed on it huh? a foodie to the core! :)
Sukanya - thank you!
Sharmi - thanks for taking the time to do so hon. It is very much appreciated.
Tigerfish - sweet is just a play of the word. I mean that it's really good :) We actually have a song called: All Saltfish Sweet
Padma - I like it with dhal and rice too just as in the pic I posted.
Thanks for stopping by and welcome! Hope to see you often.
Indo - you should! you should!
Amanda - okay darling. I am ready and willing to help. I do hope you find some.
Ari - but can you with your new eating plan?
It is wonderful living in Barbados. It's warm all year round; sometimes it's too darn hot but never the stuffy, stifling kind of heat.
Life is very laid back in these parts. Tourism is the country's main earner and the cost of living is very high.
Nanditha - that's okay lovey.
Anh - thank you and it is good to have you back.
Annita - hey dearest, it is so good to see you. Thank you.
woh,cynthia
A veg-non veg combo.never heard abt a recipe of okra with fish.thanks for the recipe.
So Ms. Cynthia why must you do this to a pregnant lady? I am just salivating over the key board. May I please have mine with mango achar, a cold glass of swank and no fork or spoon please. My fingers will do just fine blending it all together.
Prajusha - I'll send you the recipe soon.
Guyana-Mochagold118 - darling it would never be my intention to do anything to harm you or the baby :) What I think is that the baby is calling out for some saltfish and you mekking styles to go and get it (lol)
Hi,
I just wanted to say you have really good pics and recipes. It is almost similar to indian food. I love it, thankyou :) keep up the good work :)
Tina.
Hey Cynthia,
souds so goooooooooooood !!! I'm looking for a long time for okra's recipe. I love okra but it's hard tome to deal with them ! Could you send me the recipe of the salt fish sweet with okra ?
Merci,merci ...
Post a Comment