May Recipe
Our wonderful project partner Niall Sabongi created this super delicious, canape you can impress your friends with! It was the dish that we served at the official launch of Food Smart Dublin back in October 2019. It is so good that we made it one of the 12 historical recipes in our book. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
You find local fishmongers and seafood shops in and around Dublin on our google map of fishmongers here. We update this map whenever we can, but it is by no means exhaustive and if you can't find your local or favourite seafood shop here or you're a fishmonger who would like to be added, please get in touch and we will update our map.
Enjoy your seafood experience!
Cod Head Terrine
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Click for cod sustainability info
Click on the cod to find out about its history and ecology.
The cod head terrine that @NiallSabongi so beautifully re-imagined was originally a recipes from 1702 written by Mrs Jane Bury as part of the Townley Hall Papers. It can be found in the National Library Ireland under the reference Ms 9563. The two images you see here is the handwritten recipe which reads as follows:
"To boyle a cod's head When the watter boyles put ye fish having put in a hand full of salt and a pint of vingear in the watter you boyle it in. Let it not boyle too fast, 3 quarters of an hour will boyle it, if it be a piece of cod boyle the pease with it and when they are hard cut it in thin slices flower it & fry it till it browns. Then take up ye fish & draine it very well from the water and lay it in ye Dish then take a little wine, whole pepers, mace and cloves some horse Radish scraped. Two anchovies a shallot small cut, a pint of oysters, a pint of cockles with the liquor of the oysters and let them stew till they are almost dry, then put them to your butter very thick drawn pour all over your fish with a lemon slicet and the peas all laid in the dish and soe it and some fried oysters."
Niall tried a few variations on this until he was satisfied with the following recipe:
Cod Head Terrine
by Niall Sabongi
prep: 5mins; cook: 50mins; cooling time: 8 hours; difficulty level: medium; serves 6 as canapes
Ingredients
- 3 cod heads
- 2 leaves of Gelatine
- 1/2 teasoon of chopped tarragon
- some parsley & chives
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1/2 lemon
- 200g of spinach leaves, kale, mizuna, pakchoi or a mix of all the above
- salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons of wholegrain mustard
Method
- Place the cod heads into a large pot of salted water so that they are just covered by the water.
- Bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer for approx. 30mins until the meat comes off the bone easily.
- Bloom the gelatine following the packet's instructions.
- Remove the heads from the pot and reduce the liquid by half by simmering and stirring.
- When slightly cooled, pick the meat from the cod heads, being careful to avoid any small bones, gills or eyeballs.
- Measure 500ml of the reduced stock and add the bloomed gelatine.
- Add the meat along with the herbs and seasoning.
- Place the mix into a tray lined with baking paper and press down gently.
- Put in the fridge overnight or at least 8 hours.
To Serve
Cut the terrine into 2cm thick slices with a very sharp knife. Serve each slice on top of a toasted slice of bread and garnish with pickles.
Enjoy!
Recent Recipes
Below you will find all the recipes we cooked. You can cook them anytime until they are out of season. Information on the seasons can be found in the sustainability section of each recipe or in our seasonality summary chart. Enjoy your sustainable seafood!
January - Pan-fried Hake
February - Niall's Fish Curry
March - Baked Scallops
April - Potted Crab
May - Cod Head Terrine.
June - Pan roasted megrim sole.
July - Samphire Chowder.
August - Mackerel with Rhubard and Gooseberry Relish
September - Oyster soup in bread cups
October - Pickled Cockles & Mussels
November - Prawn stew starter
December - Smoked Mackerel & Potato Salad
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