Codfish dessert

[Vasco]

Hello there!

 

So my whole class recieved an assignment, a 5 course menu and the main focus is codfish, so the natural question is...how to integrate codfish in a dessert and what flavours pair with it?

Making a croquant with the codfish skin + isomalt and maltrodextrin came to mind, maybe doing a popcorn icecream with low % fat  or in anyway integrating brown butter. Just random ideas thrown into the air since i'm stunned by this request.

 

Any help very much appreciated

 

[Franci]

Just an inspiration. The "baccala' in dolce forte" is a sweet and savory dish with pine nuts, raisins, chocolate, vinegar.

This recipe here with its chestnut polenta is very Tuscan, not a dessert, but maybe you can take it somewhere else.

[gfron1]

I'd puree the fish (very fine through chinois), integrate black sugar, a sweet vinegar (like a Chinese drinking vinegar) hold it together with a starch (rice most likely would be enough), form them, chill, bread, fry. Depending on the menu I would make them look like frozen TV dinner fish sticks and make a "ketchup" of plum.

[gfweb]

The trick, I think, is to make it still clearly cod, but taste dessertish.

 

As opposed to just hiding a bit of cod in a cheesecake or something (duh).

 

Frying as suggested above lets you play with sort of sweet sauces and introduce the dessert element.

[gfweb]

And smoked fish would stand up to a somewhat sweet sauce...

[Lisa Shock]

The assignment was 5 courses....was dessert specified as course #5? I mean, you could do 5 courses without dessert.

[Vasco]

Mighty good ideas, the thing is...fruit and cod dont really mix unless we are talking of the citrus realm. So the thing is to let the cod shine on it's own and have other sweet elements balance it?

This came to mind after reading the comments!!!

Codfish icecream mostly milk and low sugar, brown butter solids/codfish skin crumble with onion caramel to bind,  something with lemon...eggs and juice/zest cooked and set with gelatin into disks perhaps and an olive oil cake.

The smoked salt is a very good idea here to finish the dessert at the end!!

[Vasco]

The assignment was 5 courses....was dessert specified as course #5? I mean, you could do 5 courses without dessert.

 

There has to be a dessert, the chef actually said those specific words with a huge grin on his face...he is having fun i'm sure!

[gfron1]

Mighty good ideas, the thing is...fruit and cod dont really mix unless we are talking of the citrus realm. 

 

Just encouraging you to be open to possibilities. There is a wide world of fruit out there, much of it non-citrus, that has potential to work with cod. Once you start saying you can't then you never will.

[gfweb]

Smoked cod and melon?

[Lisa Shock]

How about taking salt cod, dry, and grating it then using it as salt? You could use it to top caramels, sprinkle on ice cream, pretty much any sweet dessert.

[Vasco]

Love that idea but isnt it a bit avoiding the issue rather than putting the cod upfront on the dish?

 

I can see melon working but it is a bit out of season! I have done savory with cod and butternut squash, can it work dessert wise?

[Lisa Shock]

Fall is melon season. As an added bonus, honeydew does not ripen on the vine, it ripens in storage a few months after being picked.

[gfron1]

Yeah, pickled (a bit sweet) rind with the cod...sounds good to me.

[jmacnaughtan]

If you're going to throw cod into a dessert, you're heading for a car crash - think trout ice cream in Iron Chef America.

 

Why not make a dessert that is reminiscent of the sea in terms of colours, textures and a little salt, but which will actually taste nice?  This may be an exercise in lateral thinking, set by your chef...

 

I seem to remember candied samphire appearing on playingwithfireandwater, that could serve as an interesting marine element.  Pair it with a well-caramelized, well-salted kouign amann and some kind of sorbet and you could be on to a winner.

[Vasco]

If you're going to throw cod into a dessert, you're heading for a car crash - think trout ice cream in Iron Chef America.

 

Why not make a dessert that is reminiscent of the sea in terms of colours, textures and a little salt, but which will actually taste nice?  This may be an exercise in lateral thinking, set by your chef...

 

I seem to remember candied samphire appearing on playingwithfireandwater, that could serve as an interesting marine element.  Pair it with a well-caramelized, well-salted kouign amann and some kind of sorbet and you could be on to a winner.

I would prefer to do what you are suggesting but we already cleared up with the chef that there is no way around the cod. Last time we did something like this it was strawberry and we had 6 elements of strawberry alone on the dessert and the only deviation was a crumb to hold a quenelle of sorbet

[Lisa Shock]

You could look at the problem with a modernist perspective. Your ingredient is a form of protein with a good amount of water in it, and low fat content. If you pureed it, you'd get something which would act a bit like (perhaps with some coaxing by adding various other ingredients) egg white, which is a magic ingredient in pastry-making. You'd need to do some research and testing, but, you might be able to make something like a chocolate souffle with a 50-50 mix of cod and egg white instead of the usual amount of egg white. Or crepes without whites at all, just cod puree, a few yolks, milk, flour, sugar and salt. In ice cream, think of the cod as replacing the eggs, not the milk. This would probably work with cake as well. It might take some cornstarch,  xanthan gum or meat glue to make it work, but, I think it would. After all, cod is a very mild flavored fish. Add some orange oil, vanilla, or some spices, and you can hide the flavor.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Cod sorbet?

[gfweb]

I'm still thinking smoked cod and melon... with smoked salt.

 

The cod:melon ratio is key.

 

Guessing...I'd say one big flake of cod to a 50% sized piece of honeydew or a 75% piece of cantaloupe

[djyee100]

Years ago I cooked a fish pie from Macao, originally Portuguese with influences from the Silk Route. The fish filling was savory and spicy, the crust was sweet with sugar and Port. The sweet-savory combination reminded me of Arab food brought back from the Crusades.  I thought it was too sweet to serve as a main dish. With some tweaking you might make a dessert out of it. My notes say "delicious, unusual." 

 

I clipped the recipe from a food mag. Incredibly, I was able to find it online. Here:
http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Empada_de_Peixe_%C3%A0_Maniera_de_Macao

Edited October 1, 2015 by djyee100 (log)

[cta]

Vasco, do you know about 'Buñuelos de Bacalao' (codfish fritters)? 

 

http://cocinandoentreolivos.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/bunuelos-de-bacalao-receta-paso-paso.html

 

Maybe you can play with this idea and create some kind of sweet dounought/fritter. 

 

I like to cook bacalao with a sauce made with caramelized onion, cinnamon, white wine and dried fruit (prunes or  apricots) and a little honey and I love the way this flavours work together.

 

Toasted almonds, apple (a tart variety) can be good companions too.

[SylviaLovegren]

Not to be Debbie Downer, but please make sure your chef never invites me to eat one of his meals.  The thought of cod in dessert just makes me want to hurl.  Reminds me of those sugared dried baby crabs I got fed once at a Japanese market, still gives me the shudders.  But obviously some people like them.  Just not me.  

[djyee100]

Your chef-instructor is being cute. I've been there with some of my professors. You jump thru the hoops if you want the degree.

 

I think you can create a decent, even good dessert with codfish if you aim for a savory dessert. Consider it similar to finishing with a cheese course, rather than a typical sweet dessert.

 

Another possibility, deep-fried fish pieces, cooked until very dark brown and crunchy all the way through like a cracker. The frying process dries out and crisps the fish pieces. I learned this technique in Thai cooking. You could then crumble the fish crackers over a dessert. Don't ask me what. Lemon and/or anise flavors would be compatible with fish. Crunchy fish topping over lemon anise panna cotta? I recently tried these crunchy fish pieces in a Thai dish with ginger, basil, and green peppercorns. A crunchy fish topping over basil sorbet?

 

To make the crispy fish: Bone and cut fish into 1 1/2 inch chunks. Salt well. Douse with tapioca starch until well-covered, then toss in a strainer to remove any excess starch. Deep fry in hot oil over medium heat, occasionally turning the pieces, until they are very dark brown, maybe 15-20 mins. Don't overload the fryer or the fish pieces will crowd and stick together. As the oil bubbles around the fish pieces decrease, you'll know the fish is drying out and becoming crispy. Drain well on a rack. Cool. Note: This crisping method works with lean white fish like catfish, red snapper, rock cod or tilapia.

[Beebs]

Moon Festival was just last weekend, which puts me in mind of mooncakes that have a savoury-sweet meat (pork) filling. It was most definitely desserty.  I don't know how well it would work with fish, but I imagine it's possible.... 

[Vasco]

Melon is out of season in Portugal..really liked the combo though.

Having gathered all the ideas here and my experience in tasting certain things...I have tasted codfish icecream in puerto rico alongside other "wonky" flavours and taking inspiration in something I ate recently, fleur de sel icecream, the way to go is savoury definitely.

I would love an input from you guys on the concept of the this dessert so bear along with me:

milk based icecream flavored with cod, with a hint of vanilla and low sugar.

Codfish/brown butter crumble made by combining the crisp skin with equal amounts isomalt and then 30% maltrodextrin and also getting brown butter solids by toasting non fat milk powder in butter,

Onion caramel made from a strong caramel with a reduced onion juice.

Lemon disk set with gelatin

Olive oil cake

 

The thought behind, albeit crazy as hell. The icecream is the binder of the dessert, vanilla has been paired with cream sauce for cod and it brings the savoury icecream into dessert realm, the crumble is a no brainer, crispy cod skin barely sweetened by the isomalt while the brown butter brings notes of roasted nuts, the onion caramel is the sweetest of the elements while also bringing bitterness to the table so as to balance all the savoury, the acidity from the lemon will pair with all the others flavours while also cutting the richness of the whole dessert, the olive oil cake is almost just textural but at the same time olive oil/cod/lemon/onion/flavor of nuts just gives me fuzzy feelings all about.

There are thoughts of maybe playing around with fennel like you suggested djyee100 or even smoked salt on top of the icecream but that maybe too much thinking.