Long Cod or Golden Ling

Salted ling was the great standby of medieval and Tudor households on days when meat was not allowed. It is a large fish, longer from head to tail than the species we call cod, but comes from the same family.

The Babees Book (a late-fifteenth-century manuscript by an unknown author) says: “Ling perhaps looks for great extolling being counted beefe of the sea; and standing every fish day at my Lord Mayor’s table; yet it is nothing but long cod. When it is salted it is called Ling ...