Codcheeks

A word of warning: codcheeks packed in brine should be soaked for as long as regular cod should, never less! We cooked (not fried) ours in olive oil, and used the oil to mount the sauce, so none of the excessive salt had a chance to escape. It wasn't inedible, but it was a bit far from perfection.

Codcheeks are amazing! This was the first time I ate - or cooked - these things, but many more will certainly follow. My guess is you should soak them in the fridge for 1.5 days, changing the water three times. Maybe two days, I have to experiment. We soaked ours for 24 hours and that was not enough.

Codcheeks are used a lot in Basque cuisine, where they are called kokotxas. I had been curious for a while about experimenting with the pil pil technique: essentially emulsifying the cod's gelatin in olive oil until it forms a thick sauce. Hence, saturday dinner was set.



The wine was also one which I had my eye set on for a while: 2005 Vinha Formal, a 100% Bical wine that is fermented in barrel and aged for 12 months in new oak barrels with a 650 l capacity. It's supposed to be an unusal white wine, very particular. Our bottle showed a very complex nose, but I was expecting a more exhuberant mouth. In particular, I was expecting a more unctuous wine. A very nice wine, but I am not sure I would buy another bottle, especially given the pricetag.

To serve with the kokotxas al pil pil: double-fried french fries and turnip greens that were parboiled and then sauteed in garlic-scented olive oil.

For the kokotxas al pil pil: fry 3 sliced cloves of garlic and a small dried chile until golden in a lot of hot olive oil - 1/2 a cup of oil should do it: you need enough to barely cover the codcheeks. Remove the solids to a plate, let the oil cool a bit, and then add the codcheeks that were patted dry (we used 500 g and that was enough for 3 people and there were no leftovers). The idea is to cook them in oil, not to fry them, so the temperature should not be too high. You will see white bubbles forming: this is the beginning of the pil pil. The cod cooks fairly quickly: 5 minutes or even less. Do NOT overcook! Remove the cod and let the oil cool down to about 60 C. Then start wisking the oil with a small colander. I saw this technique in this youtube video, and it really works! The oil will thicken to form a very interesting sauce. Check the video for more detailed instructions - if you understand Spanish.

Put the cod back into the saute pan, heat and serve sprinkled with parsley and guarnished with some of the fried slices of garlic.