The Cook-Off would not be complete without our fish recipe. This year we bring you “To Stew A Fish”. I have not decided if that sounds delicious or kind of… fishy…
I guess we will have to try it out!
In Newfoundland, there are a thousand ways to eat a fish.
This week’s recipe makes great use of the abundance of fish we have right now. Each morning we see the fishermen out in their boats casting their nets into the water off of our shores. In Newfoundland, when we refer to “fish” we mean cod. The cod fishery was Newfoundland’s most important industry for centuries, and actually the reason the Colony of Avalon exists!
The 1st Lord Baltimore, the man who turned this area into the Colony of Avalon, was granted this land to be used as a fishery. One of the reasons he wanted to set up a Colony here, was due to the the fishery being a profitable means of living in the New World.
But how do we cook it?
This week’s recipe comes from Robert May’s The Accomplisht Cook. If you have been following the Cook-Off for some time, you may be familiar with his work.
The front piece of Robert May’s 1671 edition of “The Accomplisht Cook”
One of the reasons we return to this book so often is because Robert May was one of the first people who lay out their cookbook into logical sections, instead of just throwing recipes together with no reasoning. He has 26 sections, laid out by type of meal and meat to be used. This makes it very easy for us to sort through and find some treasures to try out in the kitchen.
What a lovely dish!
Fish ready for the fire
Bread is baked and waiting!
Make sure you add a photo of your fish to the comments of this week’s recipe post on the Colony of Avalon’s Facebook page for a chance to win weekly and grand prizes. (Can be found here)
This week’s prize is a wonderful book all about Newfoundland’s Food History. Storm The Kettle looks at Newfoundland’s culinary history to add some new twists to the classics. We think you will love this one! Deadline for this week’s entries is 11:59 pm, Monday, August 14, 2023. Apologies for the delay on this post, it wouldn’t be the Cook-Off without a few hiccups!
