Steamed cod with crown prince squash, soppressata and mussels

GBC David Taylor Cod
  • medium
  • 4
  • 3 hours plus overnight infusing time
5.00

This elegant steamed cod dish from David Taylor is served with a rich, buttery soppressata sauce, deep orange mussels and Crown Prince squash. The parsley oil and cod both need to be prepared a day in advance.

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First published in 2024

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Parsley oil

Squash

Cod

  • 1 cod loin, from about a 1kg cod fillet
  • 2 1/8 pints of water
  • 3 1/2 oz of salt

Mussels

  • 5 1/2 lb of mussels, washed and de-bearded
  • 2/3 pint of white wine

Soppressata sauce

  • 5 1/3 oz of soppressata, diced
  • 1 1/8 lb of beurre noisette
  • sea purslane, for garnish

Equipment

  • Vacuum bag and machine
  • Steam oven or steamer

Method

1

Add the parsley leaves to a blender

2

Heat the oil to 80°C and then blend in a non-airtight blender with the parsley for 6 minutes. Be very careful when blending hot liquids, and always leave a gap in the lid for steam to escape. Never blend hot liquids in an airtight blender like a Nutribullet

  • 3/4 pint of sunflower oil
3

Pour into a container and leave to infuse for 24 hours, then strain through a fine mesh sieve

4

Peel the squash and remove the seeds

5

Slice three quarters of the squash – the remaining quarter will be used for the pickle

6

Melt the butter in a pan and add the sliced squash. Gently cook over a medium heat until the squash starts to break down

7

Add 100ml water and cover the pan with cling film or a tight fitting to trap as much moisture as possible. Leave over a low heat for 20 minutes; the pressure and steam in the pan will break down the squash quickly

8

After 20 minutes the squash should be very soft and cooked. Reduce the liquor by half and blend all the squash in a blender until smooth. Chill and put into a container to one side

9

Slice the last quarter of squash on a mandolin, getting as long and as thin slices as possible

10

Whisk together the rapeseed oil, white wine vinegar, water and honey

  • 3 1/2 oz of rapeseed oil
  • 1 1/2 oz of white wine vinegar
  • 3/4 oz of water
  • 3/4 oz of honey
11

Toast the spices in a dry frying pan and then add to the dressing and whisk together

12

Toss the squash slices with the dressing

13

Vacuum pack the squash and leave for 3 hours to marinate or overnight if possible

14

Whisk together the salt and water to create a 10% salt brine, whisking every couple of minutes to make sure all the salt dissolves

  • 3 1/2 oz of salt
  • 2 1/8 pints of water
15

Set a water bath to 50°C

16

Add the cod to the salt brine and leave for 15 minutes

17

After 15 minutes, remove the fish from the brine, wash under cold water and pat dry the fish

18

Roll the cod in cling film to create a cylindrical shape, tying off both ends. Vacuum pack the loin and drop into the water bath and cook for 8 minutes

19

After 8 minutes, put the cod, still sealed in the vacuum pack bag, into iced water to refresh it. It won't be cooked, but this helps to set the shape. Transfer to the fridge until needed

20

Alternatively, if you don’t have a water bath then leave the cod in the fridge overnight to help set the cod

21

Put the mussels in a pan with the white wine. Cover with cling film or a tight fitting lid and bring to the boil to steam the mussels. Give the pan a light shake and allow to gently simmer for 1 minute. Leave to rest for 2 minutes before breaking the cling film or removing the lid and draining the mussels, making sure to keep all the delicious mussel stock you have created. Remove the mussels from their shells and chill in the fridge

  • 5 1/2 lb of mussels, washed and de-bearded
  • 2/3 pint of white wine
22

To serve, take 300g squash purée and add mussel stock until a sauce-like consistency is achieved. If you are a bit short on mussel stock, finish with a little water to top up

23

Bring to the boil and add the soppressata, then gently simmer for 1 minute. Blend with a hand blender and leave to infuse for 20 minutes

  • 5 1/3 oz of soppressata, diced
24

Pass off the sauce, add butter to taste and season with salt. If the sauce seems a little thick, add a splash more mussel stock. Put to one side

25

Drain off the pickled squash and put to one side with the mussels

26

Melt the beurre noisette in a pan or tray big enough to fit all the cod and bring to 50°C

  • 1 1/8 lb of beurre noisette
27

Set up a steamer big enough for the cod. Have it on a very gentle steam, 80°C if possible

28

Slice the cod into 100g portions and place onto individual greaseproof paper pieces

29

Place the cod into the steamer and set a timer for 7 minutes. Check the core temperature with a probe so that it hits 38 or 39°C. Remove from the steamer and allow to rest in the brown butter until the cod reaches 45°C in the core

30

Drain the cod and place into a bowl, sprinkled with a little bit of flaky sea salt. Warm through the sauce with the mussels and serve in the bowl with the cod, pickled pumpkin and finish with the parsley oil and some sea purslane

  • sea purslane, for garnish

After setting his heart on a career in cooking as a child, David Taylor went on to learn in the prestigious kitchens of Maze, Purnell’s and Maaemo before opening his own restaurant Grace & Savour, where he puts locality and seasonality centre stage.

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