Cod has long been a firm favourite in the chip shops, supermarkets, fishmongers and restaurants of the UK. While we’ve certainly become more adventurous over the years, trying new fish species like gurnard, dab and John Dory, cod still holds a special place in our hearts.
Pascal Aussignac is a champion of Gascon cuisine, cooking informal, innovative dishes inspired by his youth growing up in Toulouse and Bordeaux. As a lover of all things fish and seafood, he sees cod as one of the best species to work with – particularly cod caught off the coast of Norway.
‘I went to Norway earlier this year in January to see the Skrei fish being caught first-hand,’ says Pascal, referring to a seasonal variety of cod caught at the beginning of each year. ‘I could see the way that they treated, caught and dealt with the cod was fantastic, and the flesh was this amazing pristine white. That’s why I love to use Norwegian cod and talk about it.’
We invited Pascal to Le Cordon Bleu cook school so he could share his favourite ways of cooking Norwegian cod with a small group of bloggers and journalists. After demonstrating one of his most iconic canapés – crunchy grapes – he shared his favourite way to cook cod during autumn: confit with juniper and butternut squash.