Norway is known for its fish and we’ve been lucky enough to
sample quite a bit of it while staying in a cabin, north of Bergen.
There is a wonderful fish market in Bergen where every possible fish is
on display. While at the fish market we had a bowl of
local salt cod soup. It was wonderful
and I decided to try and recreate it when we reached our cabin. I’m pleased to say it was just as tasty as the soup from the market and will definitely be part of my soup repertoire moving forward.
There was salt cod for sale in the fish market, but I was
drawn to a smoked cod instead. It had a
wonderful salty/smokey flavor and a crumbly consistency. It was perfect for this soup, but if you have
trouble finding salt cod or smoked cod in the States a nice piece of baked fresh cod would
also be delicious.
Cod is a highly nutricious cold water fish boasting high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, lean protein, and B vitamins, while also having low murcury levels. It also happens to live natively across the Atlantic, so it is usually easy to find wild-caught cod at the market. I find it to be a pretty standard mild flavored white fish and good for a range of recipes.
Norwegian Cod Soup Ingredients:
2 yellow onions (sliced into thin half moons)
5 potatoes (sliced into thin half moons)
5 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 jars of crushed tomatoes or 1 bag of frozen tomatoes
1 cup of water or fish stock
1 tablespoon anchovy paste or mackerel paste
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste (go easy on the salt if you’re using salt cod or
smoked cod because the fish will add a lot of salty flavor)
Begin by sautéing your onion and garlic in the olive oil
until they start to turn translucent.
Add the tomatoes and water/fish stock and begin to simmer.
After five minutes add the potatoes, anchovy paste, spices and simmer for 30 minutes stirring periodically. Keep tasting the soup as it cooks and add more spices
if needed.
When the soup is nearly finished, thinly slice your smoked
cod into layers. If you’re using fresh
cod or salt cod I’d recommend leaving it in one large filet. Bake the fresh filet with olive oil and lemon to keep the clean, fresh flavor.
Arrange the cod on top of the bowl of soup and enjoy! Hopefully you’ll finish the evening with something like
this…
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