Polenta for the Good Friday Dinner of 1940

La Polenta du Vendredi Saint de 1940

Preparation info
    • Difficulty

      Easy

Appears in
Savoie: The Land, People, and Food of the French Alps

By Madeleine Kamman

Published 1989

  • About

I truly believed that Mélanie could outcook anyone, including my extremely gifted mother, because she found a way to make us love polenta and dried cod all at once. For Paris kids mostly raised on thin bifteck and pommes frites, that was an achievement.

Ingredients

For the Cod

  • 1 side of a medium salt cod soaked in water 24 to 48 hours
  • 3 quarts water
  • 2

Method

To prepare the cod, soak it until fully rehydrated. Bring the water to a boil, add the onions, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and parsley and simmer 15 minutes; add the peppercorns, turn the heat off, and cool to barely lukewarm.

Add the cod and very slowly bring the water back to a bare simmer; as soon as the water simmers, turn the heat off, cover the pot, and let stand 5 minutes. Remove th