Salt cod

Twas brillig and the slivy toves ... words that might be apt before a hiatus. one of this blog's goals is introducing a Holistic software development protocol. i could upload a medium-size example of an application that illustrates the protocol's benefits, but want to present a smaller example. unforunately, that project needs a restart. so this is another post about food.

General store

old movies introduced me to the department store's precursor. i was lucky to live near one in a Portuguese neighborhood. one day, i saw spools of cotton seine twine casually displayed in a shopping cart. (nobody used shopping carts there; the store was too small.) the smallest spool was quite large, but i bought it anyway because its quality was so high (four-stage construction).

during another visit, things resembling pieces of wood were similarly displayed in a small bucket on the floor. my first encounter with salt cod made me curious, and a little afraid.

Assorted whitefish

in New England, i developed a preference for fried Atlantic cod, partly because a friend who grew up there liked it more than haddock. many years later, i met another New England native with a strong preference for fried haddock.

Atlantic cod is often larger/older, which might explain why i think it has more (fishy) flavor and (slightly) firmer texture. many people claim to like fish, while preferring ones with less flavor, whereas others happily eat mackerel. people claim all sorts of things.

Pacific cod is similar to its Atlantic counterpart and can be an economical substitute, but sometimes the difference is apparent. for a while, i assumed the cod i salted was inferior because my technique was poor, but a recent purchase of commercially salted Pacific cod convinced me that salt cod should be Atlantic cod.

caveat cum grano salis :-)