Brandacujon: a Specialty from Liguria – How to Make it

Brandacujon: Cod Fish cream

More than a dish, Brandacujon is an action coming from the past and the people of Liguria. But first things first: the traditional recipe for Brandacujon involves potatoes and salted cod fish (stoccafisso or even baccalà).

The name of this specialty does not concern the potatoes nor the cod fish. Once the Ligurians had put all the ingredients in the large pot, the men began to stir quickly with a big wooden spoon (branda in Ligurian dialect). As you can imagine, this very action caused a wide hip movement, which is in fact found ironically in the second part of the word, “cujon”.

Buon appetito!

Ingredients

Serves 4 people

• 300g of potatoes
• 400g soaked salted cod fish
• 2 bay leaves
• extra virgin olive oil
• parsley
• croutons
• clove
• garlic
• salt
• walnuts or a few pine nuts
• white pepper (optional)

Preparation

Put the peeled potatoes, and the whole codfish with 2 bay leaves in a large pot, season with salt and boil until the potatoes are cooked. Drain, then remove the skin and fillet the cod fish well. Mash the potatoes with a fork and chop the fish, then put everything into a deep pot and place this inside a bigger pot as you are going to cook it in a bain-marie.

Stir quickly with a wooden spoon and start adding the extra virgin olive oil in a thin trickle, add two pinches of chopped parsley, a chopped clove of garlic. Continue like this until it is creamy. Season with salt, if necessary, and add a generous sprinkle of white pepper. Heat up the dish in a bain-marie and serve with croutons and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Brandacujon: Cod Fish cream More than a dish, Brandacujon is an action coming from the past and the people of Liguria. But first things first: the traditional recipe for Brandacujon involves potatoes and salted cod fish (stoccafisso or even baccalà). The name of this specialty does not concern the potatoes nor the…

Brandacujon: Cod Fish cream More than a dish, Brandacujon is an action coming from the past and the people of Liguria. But first things first: the traditional recipe for Brandacujon involves potatoes and salted cod fish (stoccafisso or even baccalà). The name of this specialty does not concern the potatoes nor the…