Dine Like a Pomor

Cod was once an everyday fish in New England, so plentiful that it wasn’t very highly regarded. Only when overfishing caused the rich stock of wild cod off the Massachusetts coast to collapse did the fish become rare, and hence more desirable. In Russia, the story is somewhat different. Cod thrived in the waters of Russia’s far North, where fish was the main food of the Pomor population that lived along the White Sea coast. The Pomors prized the flaky white flesh of cod above all other types of fish. A local saying affirmed that, “If you haven’t eaten cod, you haven’t dined.” (“Трещочки не поести – не пообедаешь.”)

But this appreciation was an exception. Until the time of Peter the Great, most Russians were suspicious of ocean fish like cod, which inhabited the frightening, unknown depths of the sea. Except for herring, the Russians ate mainly freshwater fish from rivers and lakes. They found the eating habits of the northern people so strange that they called them, pejoratively, treskoyedy or “cod-eaters.”

Attitudes began forcibly to change in 1721, when Peter the Great issued an ukaz ordering his subjects to eat ocean fish – an act designed to revive the once-important port city of Arkhangelsk, which had declined after St. Petersburg’s founding. Although the peasantry remained wary of ocean fish (and could hardly have afforded to buy it), the nobility positively reveled in the novelty of the new fish. Throughout the eighteenth century, they used sledges to transport flash-frozen fish from Arkhangelsk to Petersburg and Moscow in the wintertime, vying to be the first to show it off in their kitchens.

This contest eventually led to such playful-sounding preparations as labardan ograten (au gratin), the foreign words lending the dish a toney flair. Although the derivation of the word is unclear, labardan is likely a corruption of Aberdeen, a city renowned for its fine salt cod. Over time, labardan came to refer to fresh cod, and even herring. Labardan gained literary fame in Nikolai Gogol’s play The Inspector General, when the hero Khlestakov has his first taste of the fish. After a long monologue, he leaves the stage declaiming “Labardan! Labardan!” which sounds hilarious to the Russian ear.

The world’s largest remaining population of wild cod now swims in the Barents Sea, where the young cod mature for five years before migrating to Norway’s Lofoten Islands to spawn. In 2010, after many years of negotiation, Russia and Norway ratified the Barents Sea and Arctic Ocean Maritime Delimitation Treaty. With the regulation of borders, the waters were opened up to commercial interests that had been held at bay – besides the fisheries, the sea contains rich oil and natural gas deposits. The exploitation of these reserves poses a danger to the wild cod stock, as it does to the overall ecology of one of the globe’s last pristine regions. That is why Greenpeace activists protested in the Arctic last September, creating an international furor when the Russians arrested them.

While the fate of the Barents Sea cod is uncertain, the “cod-eaters” of Arkhangelsk remain connoisseurs of the fish, engaging in a fishy version of trendy snout-to-tail eating: they consider the cod’s liver, lips, tongue, roe, and especially the cheeks, delicacies, and also eat the skin after searing it until crisp. Arkhangelsk residents are now proud to call themselves “cod-eaters,” and the city even has a restaurant-museum called Treskoyed. Meanwhile, here in the US, although our wild cod stocks haven’t yet fully recovered from collapse, cod is gradually reappearing in the market, at a reasonable enough price. Here is a recipe so you can enjoy the fish Russian style.

Cod with Egg and Butter Sauce

Треска с польским соусом

“Polish Sauce” is the name the Russians use for the dressing that gilds this rustic dish. The sauce is likely called “Polish” for its lavish use of butter and eggs, although fish is not traditionally prepared this way in Poland. It makes a rich and filling meal.

2 pounds cod (or other fish), cut into 2-inch cubes

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

¾ cup dry white wine

¾ cup fish or chicken stock

6 black peppercorns

1 sprig parsley

½ teaspoon dried thyme

1 to 2 pounds new potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled

12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter

6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 hardboiled eggs, coarsely chopped

6 tablespoons minced parsley

½ teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350º F. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Place the cubes in an ovenproof dish and add the wine, stock and seasonings. Cover the dish and bring to a simmer over medium heat, then transfer to the preheated oven. Poach for 15 minutes, or until the fish is flaky but still holds its shape.

Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in salted water until just done. Cut into quarters or halves.

Prepare the sauce. Melt the butter with lemon juice over low heat. Add the eggs to the butter mixture, along with the parsley and salt.

To serve, place the potatoes in the bottom of a serving dish or individual casseroles. Top with a layer of fish. Pour the sauce over all and serve at once.

Serves 4.

Adapted from A Taste of Russia