This article is about
cod
Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not calle ...
and other cod-like fishes from the family of
Gadidae
The Gadidae are a family of marine fish, included in the order Gadiformes, known as the cods, codfishes, or true cods. It contains several commercially important fishes, including the cod, haddock, whiting, and pollock.
Most gadid species a ...
, such as
haddock
The haddock (''Melanogrammus aeglefinus'') is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Melanogrammus''. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas w ...
,
pollock
Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. '' Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as pollock in North America, Ireland and the United King ...
, and
whiting, regarded as food.
Cod
Cod is popular as a
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ...
with a mild flavour and a dense, flaky
white flesh. Young Atlantic cod or
haddock
The haddock (''Melanogrammus aeglefinus'') is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Melanogrammus''. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas w ...
prepared in strips for cooking is called
scrod
Scrod or schrod () is a small cod or haddock, and sometimes other whitefish, used as food. It is usually served as a fillet, though formerly it was often split instead.
In the wholesale fish business, scrod is the smallest weight category of t ...
. Cod's soft liver can be canned or fermented into
cod liver oil
Cod liver oil is a dietary supplement derived from liver of cod fish (Gadidae). As with most fish oils, it contains the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and also vitamin A and vitamin D. Histor ...
, providing an excellent source of
vitamin A
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and an essential nutrient for humans. It is a group of organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal (also known as retinaldehyde), retinoic acid, and several provitamin A carotenoids (most notably ...
,
vitamin D
Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, and many other biological effects. In humans, the most important compounds in this group are vitamin D3 ...
,
vitamin E
Vitamin E is a group of eight fat soluble compounds that include four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. Vitamin E deficiency, which is rare and usually due to an underlying problem with digesting dietary fat rather than from a diet low in vit ...
and
omega-3 fatty acid
Omega−3 fatty acids, also called Omega-3 oils, ω−3 fatty acids or ''n''−3 fatty acids, are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) characterized by the presence of a double bond, three atoms away from the terminal methyl group in their che ...
s (
EPA and
DHA). Cod flesh is moist and flaky when cooked and is white in colour. In the United Kingdom,
Atlantic cod
The Atlantic cod (''Gadus morhua'') is a benthopelagic fish of the family Gadidae, widely consumed by humans. It is also commercially known as cod or codling.[fish and chips
Fish and chips is a popular hot dish consisting of fried fish in crispy batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who created ...]
, along with
haddock
The haddock (''Melanogrammus aeglefinus'') is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Melanogrammus''. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas w ...
and
plaice. Cod can be easily turned into various other products, such as cod liver oil, omega pills, etc.
Other cod-like fish
Haddock
Haddock
The haddock (''Melanogrammus aeglefinus'') is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Melanogrammus''. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas w ...
is a very popular food fish, sold fresh,
smoked, frozen, dried, and, to a small extent, canned. Haddock, along with
cod
Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not calle ...
and
plaice, is one of the most popular fish used in British
fish and chips
Fish and chips is a popular hot dish consisting of fried fish in crispy batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who created ...
.
Fresh haddock has a clean white flesh and can be cooked in the same ways as cod. Freshness of a haddock fillet can be determined by how well it holds together, as a fresh one will be firm; also, fillets should be translucent, while older fillets turn a chalky hue. Young, fresh haddock and cod fillets are often sold as
scrod
Scrod or schrod () is a small cod or haddock, and sometimes other whitefish, used as food. It is usually served as a fillet, though formerly it was often split instead.
In the wholesale fish business, scrod is the smallest weight category of t ...
in
Boston, Massachusetts; this refers to the size of the fish which have a variety of sizes, i.e. scrod, markets, and cows. Haddock is the predominant fish of choice in Scotland in a
fish supper. It is also the main ingredient of Norwegian fishballs (fiskeboller).
Unlike the related
cod
Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not calle ...
, haddock does not
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantiti ...
well and is often preserved by
drying
Drying is a mass transfer process consisting of the removal of water or another solvent by evaporation from a solid, semi-solid or liquid. This process is often used as a final production step before selling or packaging products. To be considered ...
and
smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...
.
The smoking of haddock is something that was highly refined in
Grimsby
Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linc ...
.
Traditional Grimsby smoked fish (mainly haddock, but sometimes cod) is produced in the traditional smoke houses in Grimsby, which are mostly family-run businesses that have developed their skills over many generations.
[Grimsby Traditional Fish Smokers Group]
Grimsby fish market sources its haddock from the North East Atlantic, principally Iceland, Norway and Faroe. These fishing grounds are sustainably managed
[Icelandic Request on the Evaluation of Icelandic Cod and Haddock Management Plan]
and have not seen the large scale depreciation in fish stocks seen in EU waters.
[European Commission, Communication on Fishing Opportunities for 2009. May 2008]
/ref>
One popular form of haddock is Finnan haddie, named for the fishing village of Finnan or Findon in Scotland, where it was originally cold-smoked over peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficie ...
. Finnan haddie is often served poached in milk for breakfast
Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)''Breakfast: A History'' AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or " ...
.
The town of Arbroath on the east coast of Scotland produces the Arbroath Smokie
The Arbroath smokie is a type of smoked haddock, and is a speciality of the town of Arbroath in Angus, Scotland.
History
The Arbroath smokie is said to have originated in the small fishing village of Auchmithie, three miles northeast of Ar ...
. This is a hot-smoked haddock which requires no further cooking before eating.
Smoked haddock naturally has an off-white color; it is very often dyed yellow, as are other smoked fish. Smoked haddock is the essential ingredient in the Anglo-Indian dish kedgeree
Kedgeree (or occasionally ) is a dish consisting of cooked, flaked fish (traditionally smoked haddock), boiled rice, parsley, hard-boiled eggs, curry powder, butter or cream, and occasionally sultanas.
The dish can be eaten hot or cold. Oth ...
.
In 2010, Greenpeace International has added the haddock to its seafood red list. "The Greenpeace International seafood red list is a list of fish that are commonly sold in supermarkets around the world, and which have a very high risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries."
Pollock
Atlantic pollock
''Pollachius pollachius'' (Atlantic or European pollock) is a species of marine fish in the '' Pollachius'' genus. FAO uses the English name pollack for this species. Together with '' Pollachius virens'', it may also be referred to as pollock. O ...
is largely considered to be a whitefish, although it is a fairly strongly flavored one. Traditionally a popular source of food in some countries, such as Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and th ...
, in the United Kingdom it has previously been largely consumed as a cheaper and versatile alternative to cod and haddock. However, in recent years pollock has become more popular due to over-fishing of cod and haddock. It can now be found in most supermarkets as fresh fillets or prepared freezer items. For example, it is used minced in fish fingers or as an ingredient in imitation crab meat.
Because of its slightly gray color, pollock is often prepared, as in Norway, as fried fish balls, or if juvenile sized, breaded with oatmeal
Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been de-husked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains (groats) that have either been milled (ground) or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel-cut oats are ...
and fried, as in Shetland
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the ...
. Year-old fish are traditionally split, salted and dried over a peat hearth in Orkney
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) nort ...
, where their texture becomes wooden and somewhat phosphorescent. The fish can also be salted and smoked and achieve a salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhync ...
-like orange color (although it is not closely related to the salmon), as is the case in Germany where the fish is commonly sold as ''Seelachs'' or sea salmon. In Korea, pollock may be repeatedly frozen and melted to create ''hwangtae'', half-dried to create ''ko-da-ri'', or fully dried and eaten as ''book-o''.
In 2009, U.K. supermarket Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...
renamed pollock 'Colin' in a bid to boost ecofriendly sales of the fish as an alternative to cod. The supermarket also suggested some shoppers may be too embarrassed to ask for the species under its proper title, due to its reputation as an inferior fish, and its similarity to a popular English swear word (bollocks
''Bollocks'' () is a word of Middle English origin, meaning " testicles". The word is often used figuratively in British English and Hiberno-English in a multitude of negative ways; it most commonly appears as a noun meaning "rubbish" or "nonse ...
). Sainsbury's, which said the new name was derived from the French for cooked pollock ( ''colin''), launched the product under the banner "Colin and chips can save British cod."
Dishes
See also
* Alaska pollock as food
Alaska pollock (''Gadus chalcogrammus''), a species of cod (''Gadus'') found in the North Pacific ocean, is used as food globally. Compared with common pollock, Alaska pollock is milder in taste, whiter in color, and lower in oil content.
Alask ...
* Arbroath smokie
The Arbroath smokie is a type of smoked haddock, and is a speciality of the town of Arbroath in Angus, Scotland.
History
The Arbroath smokie is said to have originated in the small fishing village of Auchmithie, three miles northeast of Ar ...
* Boknafisk
* Cod liver oil
Cod liver oil is a dietary supplement derived from liver of cod fish (Gadidae). As with most fish oils, it contains the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and also vitamin A and vitamin D. Histor ...
* Dried and salted cod
Dried and salted cod, sometimes referred to as salt cod or saltfish or salt dolly, is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is stockfish. Salt cod was long a major export o ...
* Stockfish
Stockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks (which are called "hjell" in Norway) on the foreshore. The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage ...
* Filet-O-Fish
* List of smoked foods
Notes
References
*
* O'Clair, Rita M. and O'Clair, Charles E., "Pacific herring," ''Southeast Alaska's Rocky Shores: Animals''. pg. 343–346. Plant Press: Auke Bay, Alaska (1998).
External links
Long term trends in Norwegian cod fisheries – the pioneers
Species factsheet on cod from the UK Sea Fish Industry Authority (PDF, 2MB)
{{Lists of prepared foods
Commercial fish
Smoked fish