[Risa]

I'm not short on recipes for this year's salt cod cravings. There was a new Portuguese cookbook at the library, Portuguese Homestyle Cooking, and it has lots of salt cod recipes. I made one yesterday and the dish itself was delicious; however, the salt cod itself was tough and dry. I noticed that before I put the pre-soaked salt cod in the pot, but I thought maybe it would soften up in this stew dish. No such luck. I ended up picking out all the salt cod pieces. Such a shame especially since I paid $10 for that salt cod and I broke my rule of avoiding cod.

Anyway, anyone have any ideas why my salt cod was so tough and dry?

[Pete]

Sounds like the salt cod may have been old. Even with salt cod, age does matter. As it gets older, it loses even more moisture and starts to get tough. Excessive yellowing can be a sign of age so stay away from those pieces. It could also have to do with how the cod was salted and cured. I could have been salted too heavily to begin with, and not allowed to cure properly. This can make the fish tough.

[Risa]

Thanks Pete. I always wondered what old salt cod would be like and now I know. It's a very good possibility since there isn't a huge market for salt cod where I live and the boxes I've seen there 6 months ago are probably the same boxes that are there now except for the ones I bought. I'll pay more attention to the Best Before date.