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To Dress a Salt Cod

A historical recipe from The Virginia Housewife, by Mary Randolph (1860).

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A historical recipe

The Virginia Housewife; Or, Methodical Cook, by Mary Randolph (1860). Project Gutenberg eBook #12519.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards.

United States

Known as an American recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.

Ingredients 1 ingredient

  1. a glass of vinegar

Cook safely

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

  • Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.

Method

  1. Steep your salt fish in water all night, with a glass of vinegar;
  2. it will take out the salt, and make it taste like fresh fish;
  3. the next day boil it;
  4. when it is enough take off the skin, pull it in fleaks into your dish, then pour egg sauce over it, or parsnips boiled and beat fine, with butter and cream;
  5. send it to the table on a water plate, for it will soon grow cold.

Plating

Cookware for this recipe

  • Saucepan
Source Public domain in the USA
Credit

From The Virginia Housewife, by Mary Randolph (1860). Digitised by Project Gutenberg, eBook #12519 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12519). Public domain in the USA; its status may differ elsewhere.

What was changed: As printed, from the book's text; Project Gutenberg's header and licence removed. Ingredient lines were read out of the text by a program. A historical recipe, not current advice.