Vælkomin – and welcome!
Today’s recipe is all about the cod.
And if you mention fish in the Faroe Islands,
we automatically think about the cod.
The cod is famous for
its white flesh and its flaky texture.
Here in this ocean, where the Gulf stream
meets the Arctic currents,
we have one of the most
pristine waters in the world,
and this is the perfect
environment for the cod.
It’s a steady temperature,
and we’ve got
a lot of shrimp and crabs
that the cod feeds on,
and you can actually taste
the crabs in this meat.
When it comes to
the freshness of the fish,
there are five parametres
that you have to check.
Chrystal clear eyes,
blood-red gills,
a cytoplasm that’s intact,
the firmness of the fish,
and then, it doesn’t have to smell of fish, 
but just like the ocean.
And this one is perfect,
caught by my friend yesterday evening.
Today’s recipe is cod with French peas.
It is super simple to make,
it is relatively cheap,
and it is just a seasonal thing: 
spring - summer, you really want
to eat a dish like this.
Today, I will use the loin of the cod.
It’s the neck here. 
It’s this piece,
which is relatively high
compared to the tail,
and this will work
really good for this recipe.
I’ll just salt it slightly
and then set it aside.
Next is jamón.
I wanted to buy some bacon this morning, 
couldn’t find any, 
but the jamón will work perfectly well.
I will make lardons, 
which is chunky bits,
and then I’ll panfry them,
and I’ll just use some of the fat,
and then I’ll put the jamón –
the lardons –
in the pan, just to crunch
them up a bit.
There’s so much taste in the fat.
You can hear it starting to fry.
The cod doesn’t have that much flavour,
but when you add flavour,
it complements really well
so many dishes – so versatile.
The Cod – the King of the Sea!
Ah, all the flavours come out!
Now the jamón is done.
It’s crunchy on the outside.
Peas! I have fresh peas today.
It’s a thing of the summer, eh?
♪ Summer time ♪
(laughs)
Good for you
that I didn’t become a singer.
Carrots and peas.
I’ll blanche them in hot water.
I’ll just blanche them for,
I don’t know, 15 seconds,
and then into ice water.
The shallots will give
a bit of structure to the dish, 
and when I put them in the white wine,
and in the butter, they will sweeten up.
I’ll make them a bit chunky, 
so we get some structure on the palate.
Like that. Then I’ll take some dill
and chop it up.
I didn’t clean the pan,
because then I can get some of the grease
from the jamón in the pan,
and it gives a bit of taste as well.
I won’t let the butter brown, because we are 
not into those kinds of flavours today.
We just want clean, fresh, simple flavours.
Put in the white wine,
and then I’ll just poach
the cod in this mixture.
I want skin side up.
This will take about 8 minutes.
It’s all glossy and really nice.
And then the whiteness of the fish...
Aw...
Not too much heat,
just gentle, gentle poaching.
You can use a spoon,
just to cover,
so you get the heat
on the top as well.
All right. Now the cod is done.
We want it to be flaky.
I’ll just take the cod up
and leave it to rest.
Like that. Lid on.
And then for the vegetables.
I’ll put in the shallots.
You can see the shallots start to soften up
and just get so sweet.
Then I add a little bit of chicken stock.
Just like that.
And then the peas and the carrots.
They’re all glossy and shiny.
Ah!
These ones are done.
I’ll add a bit of chopped dill.
Give it a swirl,
and then we are going to start plating.
So now the cod is done,
and you can just peel of the skin.
I’ll put this in the centre.
Lardons.
And then some fresh leaves of the peas.
And then at last I have some mint.
So here you have it:
Poached cod with peas française!
(laughs)
Vælgagnist!
Mmm!
It’s flaky, simple. 
You’ve got all these different tastes from the peas 
and the sauce and the lardons.
The carrots still have bite.
(laughs)
This is so good!
The perfect dish!
I really think you should try it.
You’ll find this recipe,
more recipes,
and information about seafood
from the Faroe Islands
at FaroeseSeafood.com.
