On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 453

sometimes lime (calcium carbonate), and
later lye (pure sodium hydroxide, at the
rate of about 5 grams per liter water).
Thesestrongalkalinesubstancescausethe
proteinsinthemusclefiberstoaccumulate
a positive electrical charge and repel each
other. When the fish is then simmered in
theusualway(afterseveraldaysofrinsing
to remove excess lye), the fiber proteins
bindtoeachotheronlyweakly.
It’shardtodrawacleardistinction
betweensaltedandfermentedfish.Bacteria
playsomeroleeveninhard-curedcod;and
mostfishfermentationsstartwithasaltingto
controlthebacterialpopulationandactivity.
Mostsaltedcod,herring,andanchovy
productsarenotgenerallythoughtofas
fermented,soI’lldescribetheminthis
section.
SaltCodBountifulcodwasoneresourcethat
attractedEuropeanstotheNewWorld,where


thestandardtreatmentwastosplitandsaltthe
fish,andlaythemoutonrocksorrackstodry
for several weeks. Nowadays cod may be
hard-cured for 15 days to saturate the flesh
with salt (25%), then held without drying for
months. During that time,Micrococcus
bacteria generate flavor by producing free
aminoacidsandTMA;andoxygenbreaksup

to half the very small amount of fatty
substancesintofreefattyacidsandthenintoa
range of smaller molecules that also
contributetoaroma.Thefinalartificialdrying
takeslessthanthreedays.
Saltcodremainsapopularfoodaroundthe
MediterraneanaswellasintheCaribbeanand
Africa,whereitwasintroducedduringthe
slavetrade.ScandinaviaandCanadaarestill
thelargestproducers.Whitepiecesare
preferredtoyellowishorreddishones,the
colorsbeingindicatorsofoxidizedor
microbialoff-flavors.Cooksfirstreconstitute
anddesaltitbysoakingitforhourstodaysin