Monday, February 23, 2009

Cod Liver Paté, recipe 1

500 g fresh and fatty cod liver
1 onion
1 small bunch of fresh thyme
black pepper to taste
5 g salt
1 dl bread crumbs or 2 slices stale white bread

1 egg

Clean the cod liver: Cod liver happens to be the favourite playground for the anisakis nematode, and there can be hundreds of them on a single large liver. Since you are going to puree the liver and cook it, they are not a problem per se, but they are the ultimate spoiler of a healthy appetite. By removing the thin membrane covering the liver you remove more than 80% of the worms. Using a pair of tweezers, remove the remaining worms.

Combine all ingredients except the egg, and whizz in a food processor to a smooth paste. Mix in the egg, and let the mixture rest for a while in the fridge so the bread softens and the onion gives off as much taste as possible. The purée is quite runny, and not paste-like. Strain the purée through a moderately fine-meshed sieve. You will be left with a ladlefull of goop, which makes nice compost. Pour the smooth liver mixture into an oven-proof dish, and bake on a water bath at 160 C for 30-40 min until done. Let cool, unmould carefully and serve.

This paté is partially bound by starch, and has a bit more substance and bite to it. It can therefore be unmoulded.
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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 27, 2009 at 8:26 PM

    Finally! I love cod liver, I love pate, but when I tried to make a cod liver pate I ended up with a lumpy runny mess. I didn't think to strain and bake. I'm so excited to try this recipe right now!!!

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  2. jonasJune 14, 2009 at 6:41 PM

    Let me know how it went! :)

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  3. AnonymousMay 9, 2012 at 8:27 PM

    Hei jonas

    Thanks for this recipe. I am not far from you in Vesterålen. I have often wonderered if I could do anything with cod liver, other than let the gulls have it. Shame to waste all that omega 3.
    So I gave your recipe a go. I made 2 modifications. First I did not understand the need for straining,so I didn't bother. Secondly I added some chilli, I use chilli a lot and thought it might go well with the richness of the liver.

    Well it rose up like a souffle which was a surprise, but collapsed again as it cooled, but stayed quite airy.

    .. and .... it was excellent. No doubt a bit more texture than the strained version but great. Will certainly do it again. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. jonasMay 11, 2012 at 9:25 AM

    Glad you liked it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. heatherFebruary 25, 2016 at 8:57 AM

    Hi, i am in another hemisphere, in the South Island of New Zealand and followed the recipe exactly using the local grouper liver. Peeling the skin off was tricky but i figured out a way to do most if it. It was very good and i can now make a gourmet treat from what was previously given to a cat! Tweaking the recipe next time!

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  6. BabalouApril 8, 2016 at 10:34 PM

    Love cod liver...as a child we use the cod liver as a side dish with the steamed cod.
    Another method was to make a mixture type of stuffing...Patatoes. .Onions. .carrots and added some spices..it was so yummy that we kids fought for it!!! In those days there is NO WAY that we wasted that delicious delicacy...we also used the cleaned cod stomach and stuff it with the stuffing. ..eat it hit or sliced cold...both yum yummy!
    All from the techniques of our ancestry.! Glad to have came across this new way of preparing it.!!!Tks

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