Tasty Fish Cakes

Soldiers in the 18^th century were given rations of meat, either pork or beef, salt or fresh. Something else that they were given sometimes was fish, salted fish. So here we’ve got some salted cod we’re going to cook up into a very simple yet delicious meal.

• 6 oz Salted Fish
• 6 oz Boiled Potatoes
• 1 egg
• Butter
• Spices to taste

Salted fish doesn’t need to be refrigerated or cooled making it something you can easily take to events. It is something that you can purchase locally that makes a delicious 18^th century dish.

The salted fish right out of the box is much too salty to cook with. To draw the salt out, start soaking your fish the day before you want to use it. You want to change the water 3 or 4 times and, after it’s soaked overnight, it should be ready to use. Be aware that you can soak your fish too long causing it to lose all of the flavor and saltiness. Make sure to taste your fish before you use it so you know if you need to add spices to bring that flavor back.

Shred about 6 ounces of fish into little pieces making sure to remove any bones or skin you may find. Mash up about the same amount of boiled potatoes and add your fish. If potatoes weren’t available, it’s likely they would have tried to use bread crumbs or possibly flour as a good substitute for the potatoes.

Add your egg to the mixture and create small patties.

Make sure the butter in your pan is nice and hot.

Place your fish patties into your butter and fry until golden brown on both sides.

These were very popular and could be made for breakfast and eaten all day long.

Transcript of Video:

Soldiers in the 18^th century were given rations of meat, either pork or beef, salt or fresh. Something else that they were given sometimes was fish, salted fish. So here we’ve got some salted cod we’re going to cook up into a very simple yet delicious meal.

We’ve chosen salted fish today, because it’s something you can take to an event that doesn’t need to be refrigerated or cooled. You can make an 18^th century dish with it and it’s something you can also purchase locally. If you go to a good grocery store you’re probably going to find these little wooden boxes in the fish section, very similar to what they had in the 18^th century. The salted fish right out of the box is much too salty to cook with. It needs to be soaked to draw the salt out so the day before you want to use it, you want to start soaking this. You want to change the water 3 or 4 times and then after it’s soaked overnight it should be ready to use.

So we’ve gone ahead and done some preparation here. I’ve taken about 6 ounces of the cod and we’ve shredded it up into little pieces and I also have some potatoes that I’ve already boiled up so that they’re just soft enough to mash.

I’ve got about the same amount of potatoes here in the bowl as I do fish in a bowl over there. We want about equal amounts and we want this mashed up nicely so it will mix in with your fish and the fish, something you have to remember about the fish is, number one, it may have bones or skin and if as you’re tearing it up you find that there are any bones and skin, you want to discard that. Also, you can soak it too long. If you soak it too long it’ll remove all the flavor and all the saltiness from the fish so you want to taste it and make sure that it’s not tasteless before you use it or else you’re going to have to add some spices to bring that flavor back.

Now let’s take out 1 egg and put that into our potatoes and then we’ll mix it in with our fish.

If potatoes weren’t available, it’s likely they would have tried to use bread crumbs or possibly flour as a good substitute for the potatoes. You want to make sure that your butter is nice and hot. Let’s see how we’re doing here.

Well, these of course were popular. They look like a great breakfast thing. Of course they’d be eaten all day long. Let’s see how these turned out.

I’m going to cook up the rest of these. Mmm. All the utensils and all the clothing you’ve seen here in the video today, it can all be seen on our website or in our print catalog and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook.