21st Century Cod

If you were to see a news item entitled “the Revolt of the CodFish” you could be forgiven for thinking it was about some new late night horror movie.
Instead it referred to a culinary competition which took place in Faro the other day and was reported on the evening news. It is an interesting little insight into the country’s obsession with the humble cod, the “fiel amigo” (faithful friend) of every Portuguese.

The competition which was in its third year was between chefs up and down the country who sought to produce a new look recipe for a traditional dish, presumably, to suit a post modern era.The winner was one Manuel Teixeira, from Northern Portugal, who produced a piece which he entitled "the cod revolts and comes to earth", and was an arrangement of fillet of cod, tongue of cod, among truffles and other delicacies. And, I thought that beyond poaching, grilling and frying in breadcrumbs, there was not much else you could do with a cod

Now, it’s true that the cod, and, in particular, the salted dried cod called “bacalhau” is by far the most popular foodstuff here. So much of the fish is eaten that, in spite of it being a seafaring nation, much of what you now see in supermarkets has to be shipped in from Norway. In every restaurant you will find “bacalhau” on the menu in all shapes and sizes. We can eat it every day at the University cafeteria. You immediately know where the fish counter is in any Portuguese supermarket by the scent of the dried bacalhau. And, Christmas dinner here, we understand, is not roast turkey and ham, but consists of a dish of cod, cabbage and potatoes and is generally eaten around midnight on Christmas eve.

While on the subject of cod, the liver of the humble cod is reputed to be full of all sorts of wonderful qualities to help a person stay healthy, among which is listed “to assist memory and help cognitive functions”. So it is that Anna has taken to consuming two codliver oil capsules per day to help her with her Portuguese prepositions

But back to the “revolt of the cod” competitition. The interesting thing about the competition, I thought to myself, was that here was a very novel way of taking something that’s traditional, tried, tested and true (and tasty) and reinterpreting it for a new generation, creating a cod dish for the 21^st Century. Much the same as we believe needs to be done for the tried, tested and true doctrines of the Christian faith. We constantly need to find ways, not of changing the basic diet, but of reinterpreting them, presenting them afresh so that they are palatable, enjoyable and meaningful for a new generation.