baccalà mantecato — Italy

Baccalà mantecato is a creamy emulsion made by beating cooked, softened stockfish with olive oil until it turns pale and mousse-like, closer in texture to a whipped spread than to a piece of fish. Despite the name baccalà, which usually refers to salted cod, the fish used here is stockfish, dried without salt and rehydrated by soaking before cooking. It is reported from Venetian cuisine and also found in the cooking of nearby Friuli. In Venice it is commonly served as one of the cicheti, the small snacks poured out on the bar in the city's bacari, usually spread on a slice of grilled or fried polenta, or on bread. It is written into cookbooks under related names, including baccalà montebianco, in a well known 1891 cookbook by Pellegrino Artusi. The stockfish needs several days of soaking in changed water beforehand to soften fully. Once ready, it is poached gently in milk or salted water with a garlic clove until the flesh flakes apart easily, then drained, skinned and boned while still warm. The warm flesh is beaten vigorously, by hand, whisk or in a stand mixer, while olive oil is drizzled in gradually, the same way a mayonnaise is built, until the mixture turns pale, thick and creamy. Salt, white pepper and a little lemon juice are folded in at the end, along with chopped parsley. How much oil the fish will take up varies with the batch, and cooks add it gradually rather than all at once to avoid the emulsion splitting. The finished spread is served at room temperature rather than hot, most often piled on grilled polenta, which its mild creaminess is built to sit against.