Adapted from Fish and brewis as described by The Canadian Encyclopedia

Fish and brewis

An established dish converted to shelf-stable ingredients. Every substitution is documented below.

How long it keeps

About 6 months, set by Plain flour, though 1 of 7 ingredients has no sourced figure, so the real limit may be shorter.

Indicative, for planning a build before you buy. The answer for a pack you already own is the best before date printed on it, and that only holds if it has been stored as the label says.

Serves
4
Burners
1
Pans
2
Water
8 L
Active
30 min
Total
2 days

Ingredients

Salt cod, hard bread and a little fat: the breakfast of Newfoundland’s fishermen, made from what would last a voyage. The Canadian Encyclopedia says they needed ingredients that could last through long voyages, and calls it the classic outport dish, second only to Jiggs dinner. The story that “brewis” comes from the bread being bruised is, it says, an urban legend. The word more likely goes back to a Middle English broth of bread.

The traditional topping is scrunchions, salt pork fried crisp. This version uses the encyclopedia’s own lighter alternative, onions softened in olive oil with garlic and pepper, because everything in it keeps. Some people add a spoonful of molasses at the table.

It needs planning. Both the fish and the bread spend a night or more in water, and the fish must soak in the fridge. Researchers testing salt cod at 5, 10 and 15°C found thick pieces soaked at 15°C were spoiled after 72 hours, and concluded that desalting above 10°C is not advisable. A cupboard, a cool box that has warmed up, or a van are all too warm.

The day before. Make six ship’s biscuits, half the recipe, if you have none.

  1. Fish: into a large bowl or tub of cold water in the fridge. Follow the pack for how long and how often to change the water; 24 to 48 hours is usual, depending on thickness.
  2. Bread: break the biscuits in half and cover them with cold water. Leave them overnight, alongside the fish.

To cook.

  1. Drain the fish, cover it with fresh water and bring it slowly to a simmer. Simmer gently for about 10 minutes, until it flakes. Drain and break it into large flakes with a fork. Taste a flake: if it is still too salty, the next batch needs longer in the water.
  2. Bring the bread to the boil in its soaking water, then drain it straight away. It should be soft right through but still in pieces, not a porridge.
  3. Cover the onion flakes with a little warm water for five minutes and drain. Warm the oil in a pan over a low heat and soften the onion with the garlic for a few minutes, until sweet and just golden. It burns quickly; keep the heat low.
  4. Fold the fish and bread together, spoon the onions and their oil over, and finish with plenty of black pepper.

Serves 4.

What this was adapted from

Fish and brewis as described by The Canadian Encyclopedia: salt cod, hard bread and fried salt pork, with its own lighter variation of onions softened in olive oil with pepper and garlic

  • salt pork scrunchions → onions softened in olive oil, with garlic and black pepper

    The Canadian Encyclopedia gives this as its own lighter variation. Salt pork is hard to find in the UK and, unlike the oil and dried onion, does not keep in a cupboard.

  • Newfoundland hard bread → ship's biscuit, made from our recipe

    Newfoundland hard bread is rarely sold in the UK. Ship’s biscuit is the same kind of thing, hard, dry bread made to keep, and the brewis method treats it the same way.