Salt Fish

When David Polson worked on die ferries to and from the Shetland island of Whalsay, he used to be given a lot of fish, particularly whiting and haddock. These he would salt in the traditional Shetland way. Using the type of rough sea salt you grit roads with, he would leave it salted for about a week, then would hang it up to dry for a month at least. The salted fish would hang on ropes either above the Raeburn stove or under the gables of the house. It could last years like this, but of course the drier it becomes, the less edible it is; so ideally it would be used after hanging a month or so, when it was ready to reconstitute in water, which also removes the excess salt.