Brick Cafe

Baccala Mantecato is a delicate cream of salted codfish.  It is a specialty dish of Venice and traditionally served as an appetizer on Christmas Eve.  This recipe serves 6 and can be served over a piece of grilled polenta, fresh Italian bread or over orzo. This dish pairs well with Tocai Fruilano.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb skinned & boneless salted cod
4 cups milk
3 anchovy filets(optional)
1 chopped clove of garlic
1 cup of Italian extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup cleaned (stems removed) & chopped Italian parsley
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Method: Soak the fish in cold water for 48 hours (keep in the refrigerator). Every 6 hours drain and change the water to remove the salt.  After the first day, cut up the fish into small chunks.

After the chunks of fish have been soaked, drained & dried completely bring 4 cups of milk to a boil and add the fish.  Once the fish has been added lower the heat, cover the pot and cook for 20 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the fish from the milk (but DO NOT discard the milk) and place it into a colander to drain.

Place the fish into a large mixing bowl; add the anchovies, garlic and parsley (save a little to use as a garnish at the end). Using a hand held mixer on high speed, thoroughly blend ingredients.  While continuing to mix, drizzle in the olive oil until the texture is a white creamy paste.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Continue mixing on high speed adding as much of the milk as needed to attain a creamy and fluffy texture. Garnish with chopped parsley (or chives) and serve room temperature.