The idea of eating a codfish cake strikes many diners as old-fashioned and odd — akin to the idea of darning socks. Yet folks go crazy for crab cakes, which have an irresistible appeal on restaurant menus. Perhaps we have an atavistic yearning for the fritters, patties, croquettes and the like that are no longer part of the home cook’s repertoire. Perhaps it’s because, for folks who don’t absolutely love fish, crab cakes are a way to enjoy fish in a way that — with its mixture of spices and coating of breadcrumbs — doesn’t taste fishy. Salmon cakes are making a comeback, and some credible versions made with wild salmon can be found in the frozen-fish section of the supermarket. Cod cakes, made with salt cod, are equally delicious. They just haven’t made it back onto most restaurant menus.

Fish cakes have a long history, probably because our forefathers (and foremothers) were no fools: For survival and economy, they learned how to stretch a small amount of protein in a tasty way. It’s likely that fish cakes were brought to the New World by the English colonists, and we know from food historians that that they have long been incorporated into American cuisine. Fish cakes, or “fish balls,” were a staple of New England cooking in the 1800s and were considered to be a standard dish for breakfast or supper. (At the time, cod was so plentiful that it was synonymous with “fish.” So no one talked about “cod cakes” back then.) Nineteenth-century cookbooks offer recipes for “crab patties” or “crab croquettes,” but the term “crab cakes,” says food historian John Mariani, was not coined until the 1930s, when they first appeared in writing as “Baltimore crab cakes” in honor of that city’s famous supply of crabs.

The recipe for crab cakes, below, is from Kate Heyhoe’s “Great Bar Food at Home” (Wiley, 2007), which was nominated for the prestigious James Beard Award. The cod-cake recipe was given to me during a trip to Prince Edward Island, in the Canadian Maritimes. And if you think it’s not worth the effort to make your own tartar sauce, think again. The recipe here is from my friend Jimmy Kennedy of River Run, a restaurant in Plainfield, Vt., and would make a hockey puck taste good.

21 CLUB’S CRAB CAKES

1/4 cup olive oil plus 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh jalapeno

1/2 cup minced red bell pepper

1/2 cup minced onion

1/8 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, or to taste

2 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

5 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon chopped chives

2 teaspoons finely chopped cilantro

1-1/2 teaspoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

pinch cayenne pepper

8 ounces cooked crabmeat

1/2 cup soft breadcrumbs (see Cook’s note)

1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs, plus 1 cup for breading (see Cook’s note)

3 sprigs lemon thyme or regular thyme

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Cook’s note: Make soft breadcrumbs by pulsing a piece of white bread in a food processor. Panko are Japanese breadcrumbs now sold in many supermarkets. If you can’t find them, substitute crushed, unsalted cracker crumbs.

Warm 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium-low heat. Add the jalapeno, bell pepper, onion, salt and white pepper. Cook the vegetables (do not brown them), stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and let the vegetables cool.

In a mixing bowl, combine the yolks, lime juice and Tabasco, and mix well. Add the mayonnaise, mustard, chives, cilantro, parsley and cayenne, and whisk well. Stir in the crabmeat and the cooked vegetables. Add the soft breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup Panko crumbs. Mix well.

Set out four 3-1/2-inch ramekins. For each ramekin, line with plastic wrap, and layer 2 tablespoons Panko crumbs in the bottom and then layer 1/4 of the crab mixture and another 2 tablespoons Panko. Pat the mixture down and seal tightly with the plastic wrap. Refrigerate about 45 minutes until chilled, so the cakes keep their shape. Shake off any loose Panko before dropping the cakes into the skillet.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Warm the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium heat, until semi-hot (a few crumbs gently sizzle). Carefully add the crab cakes to the pan, cook slowly for about 3-1/2 minutes, then turn them over. (Be gentle when you flip them. Their chunkiness makes them a tad fragile.) Add the thyme sprigs and butter to the pan, place in the oven, and cook for approximately 3-1/2 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the pan. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 crab cakes

Recipe from “Great Bar Food at Home” by Kate Heyhoe (Wiley, 2007)

CODFISH CAKES

1-1/4 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 pound dried, boneless salt cod, or salt-cod pieces, prepared for cooking according to package directions

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs

several tablespoons bacon grease, or vegetable oil, or a combination of oil and butter, for cooking

lemon wedges, for serving

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Put the potatoes and onion in a steamer basket set over several inches of boiling water. Cover and steam until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the steamer basket, wipe out the pot, return the vegetables to the pot, and mash them with a potato masher. Flake the salt cod, and mash it with the potatoes. Add the pepper and egg, and stir to combine.

Scoop the mixture by the 1/4-cup, and flatten into a patty about 3 inches in diameter. Dredge each side of the fish cake lightly in breadcrumbs. Set on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 200 F. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease, oil or butter in a large skillet set over medium heat. Working in batches (don’t crowd the pan), cook the fish cakes until the bottoms are beginning to brown (about 4 minutes). Turn and cook on the other side. Transfer to the lined baking sheet, and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.

Repeat with remaining fish cakes, adding more grease, oil or butter as needed. Serve with lemon wedges.

Yield: 12 fish cakes

TARTAR SAUCE

1-1/2 cups mayonnaise

1/4 onion, peeled and minced

1/4 cup minced dill pickle, or sweet-pickle relish

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1 tablespoon Dijon or other prepared yellow mustard

1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mix everything together in a bowl or jar. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use, up to three or four days.

Yield: about 2 cups

Recipe from “River Run Cookbook: Southern Comfort from Vermont” by Jimmy and Maya Kennedy and Marialisa Calta (HarperCollins, 2001)

 

Marialisa Calta is the author of “Barbarians at the Plate: Taming and Feeding the American Family” (Perigee, 2005). For more information, go to www.marialisacalta.com.