Fish and brewis (pronounced "brews") is a traditional Newfoundland meal consisting of

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 call ...

and hard bread or hard tack. With the abundance of cod around the coasts of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic Canada, Atlantic region. The province comprises t ...

it became synonymous with many Newfoundland households as a delicacy to be served as a main meal. The recipe varies between communities and households, but the primary ingredients are always the same. The typical recipe calls for salt fish that is soaked in water overnight to reduce the salt content of the fish, and hard bread that is also soaked in water overnight. The next day, the fish and hard bread are boiled separately until tender, and then both are served together.

Variations

The traditional meal is served with scrunchions, salted pork fat which has been cut into small pieces and fried. Both the rendered fat and the liquid fat are then drizzled over the fish and brewis. Fisherman's brewis is the same as fish and brewis, but the fish and bread are chopped while hot and mixed together with the scrunchions, and often fresh cod is used instead of salt cod.

Drawn butter Drawn butter is melted butter,Damon Fowler, ''Classical Southern Cooking'', annotated edition, 2008, p. 113 often served as a sauce for steamed seafood. Some cooks restrict the term to clarified butter, while others insist that it should not be c ...

is sometimes used instead of scrunchions. Drawn butter in this instance is a mixture of melted butter and chopped onions that is thickened into a

roux Roux () is a mixture of flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or oil on the stove top, blended until smooth, and cook ...

by adding flour in a saucepan, then served hot over the fish and hard bread. In some Nova Scotia households, a similar dish is known as "salt cod and pork scraps", where the mixture can also be served on a plate next to a mound of plain boiled potatoes and carrots or turnip. The potatoes often substitute for the hard bread. Fresh chopped onion in vinegar is served as an accompaniment.

History

The meal was originally developed by sailors who were often at sea for so long that few fresh ingredients were able to withstand such lengthy trips. Fish and brewis became a crew favorite. The idea that sailors called the hardtack or sea biscuit ''brewis'' (pronounced 'brews') because of their practice of bruising or breaking up the bread into bite-size pieces is a false etymology, and it has been argued more convincingly that the word "brewis" dates back to Middle English, originally referred to bread soaked in fat or dripping and is cognate with

brose Brose is a Scots word for an uncooked form of porridge: oatmeal (and/or other meals) is mixed with boiling water (or stock) and allowed to stand for a short time. It is eaten with salt and butter, milk or buttermilk. A version of brose made ...

. A variant of brewis is found in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

References

{{seafood Cuisine of Newfoundland and Labrador Fish dishes Canadian cuisine Food combinations Cod dishes