As I mentioned in my last post, I picked up an interesting sounding wine at Pike & Western Wine Shop to feature for this week’s winesday: Domaine Gerard Millet Menetou Salon 2005. Menetou Salon is a wine appellation in the Loire Valley in France. It is neighbor to the famous Sancerre appellation and, like Sancerre, Menetou Salon produces mostly Sauvignon Blanc (the only other grape that is planted in this area is Pinot Noir.) Since Menetou Salon is less well-known than Sancerre, the wines from this region are usually much lower in price. I love Sancerre wines, but I am rarely in the mood to pay for them. The woman at the wine shop also told me to look for wines from Quincy, another neighbor of Sancerre.

To go with my French wine, I decided to make a classic French dish, Brandade de Morue. Brandade is a puree made from salt cod, garlic, olive oil, cream and sometimes potato. Salt cod, also called bacalao in Spain and baccala in Italy, is essentially just cod that has been salted and dried. Its use dates back centuries, when salting and drying were important techniques used to preserve fish so that it would keep for long periods of time. These days, although we no longer need to rely on such methods of preservation, a fondness for salt cod persists and there are countless recipes available for salt cod dishes. If you have never used it before, be forewarned, salt cod is one of those ingredients that falls into the same category as fish sauce and some cheeses: stinky but good. It kind of smells like rotten fish.

To prepare salt cod for use in a recipe, you must soak it for up to several days, changing the water a couple of times per day. You can sometimes find pre-soaked salt cod in Italian or Spanish markets. The salt cod that I picked up at The Spanish Table was actually packed with a small amount of liquid. I wasn’t sure if that counted as pre-soaked or not so, just to be safe, I still went through the step of soaking the cod as my recipe directed. Once the salt cod is done soaking, you can use it as you would any other kind of fish. To make brandade, you simply need to cook the cod for a short while and then mash it together with cooked potatoes, cream, garlic, and olive oil. You can also season it with lemon juice or thyme.

I served the brandade as an appetizer with crostini and olives. For the main course, I made clams in fennel-tomato broth and served it with a mixed greens & radish salad. The brandade was very good. The salt cod flavor was pretty subtle, however, despite the fact that I used less potato and cream than the recipe called for. I think it was a recipe designed for salt cod newbies. Next time, I will use even less potato or maybe I’ll try a completely different, more hardcore salt cod recipe instead. As for the wine, it was delicious. It was light and zesty, with touches of grapefruit, just as good as any Sancerre I’ve tried. And, for nearly half the price of Sancerre wines, it really can’t be beat.