Traditions

I'm not an overly ordered person. I don't feel a need to organize my books, clothes or papers. In fact, my desk (both at home and in the lab) tend to be in a constant state of disorder. When I travel, I prefer to go somewhere new than to visit the same place twice. When I do eat out, I like to be adventurous and have a dish I've never tried or one that I wouldn't make at home. Despite all of this, there are some things that I don't like being tampered with. I suppose once I have that view point on a particular thing or event, it has become a tradition.

I feel this way about most of my Dad's cooking, particularly the traditional Acadian dishes. When I go home I look forward to certain meals and I expect them to taste the way I'd been remembering and imagining. Right now, I can almost taste the gooey cheese on the buttery, piping hot French Onion Soup. I realized, not too long ago, that I had better make an effort to learn how to make these classic dishes. For one thing, I live too far away from my parents to pop over for a bowl of soup. More importantly, I want to be able to continue to hand these recipes down to the next generation.

Many of the Acadian dishes have roots in French cooking, but are heavily influenced by the local maritime environment. When the French settlers first arrived on PEI, cod fish was plentiful and the soil was perfect for growing potatoes. I like to think that fish cakes were concocted as a portable variation on the boiled fish and potato dinners that I'm sure were popular. Though, to be fair, I really have no idea how and when the dish originated. I do know that the recipe has survived centuries and generations and, I suspect, has undergone very little revision. Today, it's no longer necessary to preserve the summer catch of fish in thick layers of salt for winter sustenance, but the fish cake is still a nostalgic treat.

















Yesterday I found myself in the fortunate situation of having salt cod in my fridge and finding PEI potatoes at the grocery store. I set to work. There isn't much to it: desalt the fish, boil the potatoes and saute some onions (in butter of course). The ingredients are simple and won't overshadow the salty fish flavour. I add parsley to my recipe, not so much for the flavour, but for the splash of color it adds. The final product was crispy on the outside and opened to the silky smooth potatoes, which contrasted perfectly with the chewy fish chunks. Even if you aren't of Acadian heritage, you might find that fish cakes become one of your traditional treats.


Fish Cakes
From Ronnie Blacquiere and all the Blacquiere's (and LeClair's) before him.

• 1 lb salt cod
• 9 medium potatoes (~ 4 lbs)
  
• 2 eggs
• 1 small onion
• ~ 1 tbsp butter
• pepper
• 1/2 bunch of parsley

Rinse the fish to remove the surface salt. In a pot, cover fish with cold water and bring to a boil. Discard water and repeat two more times. Meanwhile, boil potatoes until tender, saute the onion in butter and chop the parsley. Break up the fish into small chunks (this is best to do while the fish is still quite warm). Mash the potatoes, no lumps! Stir onions, pepper, eggs, parsley and fish into the potatoes. Form into small patties and coat with flour. Pan fry the fish cakes, turning when browned. Note: If not eating at once, wait to flour and fry until just before eating.

Served above with carrots, parsnips and sauted kale with almonds.